John Prine

We're seeing him in San Diego on May 19th, and then again here at home in Phoenix in December.  We've seen him many times over the last >30 years, and never miss an opportunity to do so again.  One of the best songwriters of a generation.

Just shows how different tastes are - we saw him a couple of years ago with Iris Dement (my first exposure) and almost had to leave before John came on. To me she has one of the worst voices ever; literally painful to listen to.

@rpeluso - I agree with you there!  As a general rule, I'm not a "country" kind of guy.  Grew up on country but always despised it, especially the 'twangy' kind of singing my parents loved. Shuddddderrrrr!!!
In the many intervening decades, I've come to enjoy - for marital bliss among other reasons - country rock and bluegrass.  Still can't take the twang though.  Give me a Sharon den Adel, Simone Simons, Tarja Terunen, Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, Annie Haslam, Maddy Prior kind of female vocals any time.
That said, we just saw John McEuen a couple of weeks ago, with some of the old NGDB folks - 50 year anniversary tour for the Circle album - absolutely excellent!! Great fun.  Good tunes, and he spent a lot of time talking about his and the NGDB's history, and actually taking questions from the audience.  A must see if you get a chance!  A piece of history, and a marvelous string talent, irrespective of your tastes.

@tubegroover  - yeah, he's always put on a great show, but IMO since his throat cancer, and recovery, the sense of sheer joy he exhibits at being able to still perform just takes the show to a totally new level.  His voice has suffered significantly - but if was never that *pure* of a voice to begin with - but the fun he has performing is so obvious, and infectious, that you can't help but have a great time.
We were lucky enough to see Randy Newman a few years ago in Scottsdale, just him and a piano, and about 100-150 people, and it was the same kind of vibe.  He was talking to the audience, and just having a great time - makes the show something really special.  Compare such shows to the singers/groups who basically just phone in the performance, and the enjoyment factor is just orders of magnitude greater.