The Hello in There Foundation

09/18/2026

NEW EVENT: The Literary Heart of John Prine 📖🎸 at the Metro Chicago

Join us for the opening night of our Chicago celebrations! This event will feature a conversation and performance with Alejandro Escovedo and Silas House, moderated by Mark Guarino, October 7, presented with support of Chicago Humanities.

Kick off the night at 5 PM with a reception at Gman Tavern just next door, complete with an early vinyl copy of “Found Dogs” - all in support of the Hello in There Foundation and our grantmaking in John’s memory. Ticket links are below!

And that’s just the start of the week. We’ve added Arlo McKinley and Emily Scott Robinson to the The Chicago Theatre lineup, plus an Oh Boy Records pop-up shop, an art show curated by Jon Langford, and a Hattie B's Hot Chicken celebration (featuring a John Prine lookalike contest!)

Keep swiping for all the updates and the full schedule. Looking forward to celebrating with y’all next month. 💛

PANEL TICKETS: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/83244675/

RECEPTION TICKETS: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/souvenirs2026/event/gman/

09/15/2026

Our team has spent time on the ground in Chicago in recent weeks, walking the neighborhoods and planning with partners around our October celebration of John’s 80th birthday. One of the highlights was finally getting to see this beautiful mural in person, from artist & musician Jon Langford. Thanks to our friends at the Old Town School of Folk Music, to Mark Guarino, and to all our Chicago partners for spending time with us these past couple weeks! Only a little while left before we gather together!

Keep an eye on your inbox this week for a special newsletter with updates on what’s ahead 💛

09/04/2026

We want to make sure every event celebrating John’s 80th this October in Chicagoland is seen and celebrated! Alongside the concerts, workshops, singalongs, panels, mural dedication, film screenings, and trolley tours, the whole month will feel like a citywide love letter to him. But we have a hunch there’s more happening than what’s on our calendar!

Is a venue near you hosting a tribute night? A record store doing a listening party? A bar with a singalong planned? We want to know about it. Tag the venue or artist in the comments, or drop the details at the form through the link below.

We’d love to share all the ways that Chicago and the surrounding areas are honoring John this October! Link below to complete our form, or feel free to shout out here and we’ll keep track.

LINK: https://forms.gle/rQbdT39bBmrkrTLp9

📸: David McClister

08/31/2026

Tickets for HOW LUCKY CAN ONE MAN GET, starring John Prine🌟 go on sale this morning for our Chicago screenings with the Siskel Film Center - 10AM CT!

There are three screenings to choose from:

FRIDAY 10/9 @ 6PM*
FRIDAY 10/9 @ 8:30PM
WEDNESDAY 10/7 @ 8:15PM

* Fiona Whelan Prine and one of the film’s producers, John Anderson, will appear for a dialogue and Q&A after the 10/9 6 PM screening.

Link for tickets: https://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/how-lucky

All proceeds from these screenings benefit grantmaking of the Hello in There Foundation.

08/27/2026

We had a beautiful night at the 1932 Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor this past weekend for a screening of John Prine and HOW LUCKY CAN ONE MAN GET.

Thank you to everyone who came out on a rainy Sunday, filled the seats, and sang along with us!

A huge thank you to the Criterion Theatre and the Harper House Music Foundation for being such wonderful partners in bringing John’s story to Bar Harbor! All proceeds from this event benefit grantmaking in honor of our beloved John.

Our next stop is Chicago, where we’ll screen the film at the Siskel Film Center. Tickets go on sale August 31! Link in bio 🎟️🎟️

08/13/2026

Tom Piazza sat down with us recently and signed a fresh stack of copies of “Living in the Present with John Prine,” his intimate memoir written in partnership with John.

In the spring of 2018, Tom climbed into a 1977 Coupe DeVille with John for a Florida road trip that turned into a deep friendship, full of epic meals, long nights trading songs, and afternoons digging through record stores together. What began as a road trip became a beautiful memoir.

When John passed in 2020, Tom finished the story, offering an intimate look at John’s final years.

Thank you, Tom, for taking the time to sign these copies and for continuing to support the foundation’s work. Each book comes autographed by both Tom Piazza and Fiona Prine, and every purchase goes straight toward our grantmaking in John’s memory.

✨ Head to the link below to grab one for yourself or as a gift!

Thanks to Gruhn Guitars for hosting our autograph session! And to Madison Thorn for hanging and taking some pics 📸

LINK: https://shop.portmerch.com/collections/hello-in-there-foundation/products/living-in-the-present-with-john-prine-bookb

08/04/2026

Happiest of birthdays to our Founder and President, Fiona Prine! Fiona💚 we hope you’re having the most wonderful and relaxing day. We love you! 💛💚

📸: Emma Delevante

08/03/2026

Episode 3: From the Vault

John Prine and his brothers, Dave, Doug, and Billy, gather to reminisce about family, and sing “Grandpa Was a Carpenter” together.

Watch the full clip, including the brothers’ conversation about growing up in Maywood, on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w0_e3P_7aI

This is an outtake from HOW LUCKY CAN ONE MAN GET, directed by Jim Shea, a concert documentary featuring previously unreleased footage from John Prine’s May 2010 benefit concert at his hometown high school, along with reminiscences and storytelling about his time growing up in Maywood, Illinois. The Hello in There Foundation is sharing this documentary with fans in a select group of cities in 2026 and 2027.

Join us in Bar Harbor, Maine, this August for the next screening. Tickets available now: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/hellointherefoundation/event/howluckybarharbor/

Thanks to John Anderson for his work creating this clip.

John Prine and his brothers, Dave, Doug, and Billy, reminisce about...

07/28/2026

Only a few tickets remain for two special events as part of John Prine’s 80th birthday celebration in Chicago.

John Prine’s Chicago 🎙️

Friday, October 9 at the Chicago History Museum, join author Mark Guarino for a conversation on the Chicago streets, schools, and songwriters who shaped John into the storyteller we all love.

John Prine’s Maywood Trolley Tour 🚋

Sunday, October 11, hop on a trolley through Maywood, Illinois, the town where John grew up, and hear the stories behind the places that helped raise him.

Both events are part of John’s 80th birthday celebration, and every ticket supports grantmaking through the Hello in There Foundation, keeping his legacy of generosity alive. Visit johnprine.com/events for the full week’s schedule.

Grab your spot before they’re gone. Links below:

Chicago History Museum Panel: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/john-prines-chicago-tickets-1992958732217

Maywood Trolley Tour:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/john-prines-maywood-trolley-tour-tickets-1993838839642

07/22/2026

We were really excited to gather with fans and family in Mountain View, Arkansas last month at the Ozark Folk Center State Park! The Hello in There Foundation screened two John Prine documentaries as part of the John Prine Folk Festival.

Here’s a clip from the 2010 documentary, HOW LUCKY CAN ONE MAN GET, directed by Jim Shea!

We’ll be screening this one in Bar Harbor next month (link in bio for tickets!) and Chicago later this year. We are actively planning additional screenings in 2027.

Have a favorite community theater you’d like to bring this to? Let us know in the comments! Proceeds from the screening of this film support the Hello in There Foundation’s grantmaking in honor of John and his legacy of kindness 💛