When you watch The Avett Brothers performing Clay Pigeons below on SirusXM, you may harken back to John Prine.  And that’s because John Prine himself covered the song.  The song was written by Blaze Foley (who was a close friend of Townes Van Zandt’s and who died young at age 40, shot in the chest by a friend’s son), whose great songs have been covered by the likes of Prine, Lyle Lovett and others.  Of particular note is Merle Haggard’s cover of Foley’s If I Could Only Fly, which is one of our all-time favorite “Real Country” songs.  Check it out below.  Beauty.