Oh come on. When singing trad songs which contain a lot of unfamiliar dialect or Scots language, say, there's nothing wrong with the time honoured device of providing a _short, pithy_ summary of the plot (perhaps leaving out the ending) or setting the historical scene and providing a brief glossary-- helps the audience to focus. It should definitely be shorter than the song though. (Dick Gaughan please take note.) (Sorry, I know, that was heresy.)

If John Prine ain't "folk", he sure is folksy. His songs are sure folk when somebody else sings them. And many (now) accomplished folk artists broadened their horizons and got into the deep end when they'd had their fill of ten guitars around a campfire singing Prine songs--so we have that to thank him for too!

Bill