The world lost the widely influential musician John Prine this year, but his memory still lives on through his iconic music. Kurt Vile paid tribute to the late singer with his recent EP Speed, Sound, Lonely KV. Now, Vile brings his cover of Prine’s 1986 “Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness” to Late Night With Seth Meyers.
Armed with just his acoustic guitar, Vile offered a soulful rendition of Prine’s song for Thanksgiving. Introducing Vile to the stage, Meyers said the track resonates with those who can’t be with their families this holiday season: “My family loved John Prine and we booked this act because we thought it’d be the perfect song to listen to together on our couch. But now we can’t be together, and it was unplanned, but this is a perfect for anyone who’s not with their loved ones this year.”
Along with covering Prine’s song on his EP, Vile was also able to collaborate with the singer on the track “How Lucky.” Speaking about experience, Vile said: “The truth is John was my hero for a long time when he came into The Butcher Shoppe to recut one of his deepest classics with me. And, man, I was floating and flying and I couldn’t hear anything he told me while he was there till after he was gone for the night. A couple nights later we were playing ‘How Lucky’ together again; this time onstage at the Grand Ole Opry on New Year’s Eve at the turn of 2020. Nothing like seeing John and his band of musical brothers and family and friends playing into the new decade in front of an adoring audience on that stage in Nashville, TN… and, yup, that’s just how lucky we all got that night.”
Watch Kurt Vile perform “Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness” on Late Night With Seth Meyers above.
Speed, Sound, Lonely KV is out now via Matador. Get it here.