amna: 28-year-old
singer-songwriter Tommy Prine
recently made his debut at the
grand ole opry.
That his artistic journey would
bring him there was by no means
assured.
Special correspondent Tom
Casciato has the story for our
arts and culture series canvas.
Tom: Listening to this in los
Angeles, you might think Tommy
Prine was born for the stage.
>> When I was little, I just
thought that's what the world
was.
All my parents friends were uses
in's and songwriters.
Saw was like, ok, cool.
I'll play music.
>> His debut album has a song
that makes his boyhood sound
idyllic.
>> On the album art cover is me
looking up at some trees.
For the first 12 years of my
life, me and my brother and my
parents would go to Ireland for
the Summers.
Those trees I'm looking at are
the trees that me and my brother
jack used to climb.
>> Then came adolescence, and
with it, punishing self-doubt.
>> Just the whole idea of
becoming an artist and being
able to sing and play and write
songs just sounded like an
insurmountable feet.
I think a lot of it is because
my dad was always honest about
his journey.
What happened to me was like
stardust, and a fragment of more
stardust.
>> There was a certain amount of
skill involved.
>> I agree, there was definitely
some talent mixed in there with
some luck.
>> Tommy's father, John Prine,
is among the most renowned
songwriters of his generation.
His music cast a long artistic
shadow.
Would you say that you were
repressing something in yourself
at that time?
>> To put it lightly, yeah.
>> Was the thing you were
repressing that?
?
You wanted to be an artist >> I
think so.
I was horrified to admit that to
myself.
>> Tragedy struck in 2017.
He lost one of his best friends
to addiction.
♪♪
>> He wrote a song describing
his downward spiral.
>> I wrote it in my early 20's.
I was partying really hard and
doing a lot of stuff I shouldn't
be doing.
I was just turning into a man
that I had never wanted to be.
I was ashamed of myself,
essentially.
And is through a lot of gnarly,
dark experiences, I woke up one
day and I think I recognized
something in myself, that
nothing felt right.
>> He continued writing songs no
plan to release them, when
tragedy struck again.
2020, John Prine, a two time
cancer survivor, passed away
early in the covid-19 pandemic.
>> On that day, the world lost
one of the best songwriters
ever.
>> Tommy wrote a song for his
father, but first, this.
There's a picture of you and
your brother and your father.
What is up with the bear suits?
>> Me and my brother just went
to target.
I dad was like, he loved
Christmas.
He essentially waited all year
for it to be Christmas again.
We just thought it would make
him a smile, so we got that, and
he loved it.
>> Did you have a close
relationship?
>> With my father?
Yes.
♪♪
I mean, everything got flipped
on its head when I lost my
friend and then I lost my dad.
I think music really saved my
life.
>> It was his music that led to
a call from two friends in
Nashville.
>> I was working at a gift shop
at the time at the country music
hall of fame.
They were like, hey buddy, we
love you, we think you should
quit your job and become an
artist.
We agree that's what you should
do with your life.
>> In 2022, he married his wife,
savanna.
They have been friends since
they were 13.
>> She was with me through all
of the ups and downs.
I say music saved her life, but
I think we all know who really
saved my life.
>> You might say friendship is
what has kept Tommy Prine
afloat.
He tours with another childhood
friend, on guitar.
And he's got a song that sums up
the whole journey from
self-doubt to self-expression.
He wrote it at the Virginia farm
where Johnny cash and June
Carter once lived.
>> The song itself is kind of
like a proclamation of me
putting aside the fear of being
an artist, and putting aside the
notions that people might have
about my job, and just saying
I'm going to get over everything
that was thrown my way, and I'm
going to get through it by
playing music.
By being the most authentic
version of Tommy that I can be.
>> Walking not in his father's
shadow, but walking next to him.