John Prine
Prine is the son of William Prine and Verna Hamm. Prine himself started playing guitar at age 14, taught by his brother, David.[1] He was a postman for five years and served in the Army before beginning his musical career in Chicago.
In the late 1960s, while Prine was still delivering mail in Maywood, Illinois, he began to sing at open-mic evenings at the Fifth Peg on Armitage Avenue. Prine was initially a spectator, reluctant to perform, but eventually did so in response to a "You think you can do better?" comment made to him by another performer.