As I sat down in my seat Friday night, the woman sitting next to me said, “You kids are sure going to like this show.”

She spoke as if I didn’t know what to expect and, as I looked around at the audience that made up the nearly filled Stephens Auditorium, I was beginning to wonder.

Being one of the few people who was not a part of the Baby Boomers, I was beginning to feel a bit out of place. However, as the concert began, I began to feel at home.

With three microphones and two guitars setting the stage, self-taught guitarist Leo Kottke stepped onto the stage by himself and almost immediately made his acoustic guitar the center of the spotlight.

While most people describe his music as folk, it isn’t an appropriate description. His aggressive playing style incorporates more rhythm, jazz and bluegrass than traditional folk.

Promoting his latest CD release, “Standing in My Shoes,” Kottke played songs like “Corrina, Corrina,” “Vaseline Machine Gun,” “Across the Street,” “Cripple Creek,” and, of course, the cover, “Standing in My Shoes.”

Although most of Kottke’s songs don’t have lyrics, the listener can easily follow the stories of the songs — and they all have stories behind them.

The stories are apparent by just listening to Kottke playing, but it is even more entertaining when Kottke gives the histories of the songs or tells crazed stories about the events that surrounded the recordings of the songs.

His humor alone — rarely found on his recordings — make the show worth going to.

While making his acoustic guitars sing, it was easy to forget Kottke was on stage by himself, and if there was someone else with him, it would have hindered his performance.

Kottke is an example of how one instrument is all it takes to put on a performance that, in the end, got a standing ovation. It was one of the few shows I have ever gone to where the opening act was as widely received as the main act.

Taking the stage shortly after Kottke was legendary singer-songwriter John Prine, accompanied by the multi-talented Jason Wilbon who was on the mandolin, electric and slide guitars and the harmonica, and Dave Jakes on the upright and electric bass.

Prine took the stage immediately with his classic “Spanish Pipedream.”

According to Prine, the first song of the show should be “up and bouncy.” And that it was.

Prine followed this with another upbeat tune, “Fish and Whistle.” It was amazing to see how the audience reacted to Prine. At the end of songs the audience would get up and shout out praises of “We love you John,” then take their seats again, quietly awaiting another great song.

If there is the term “bluegrass jam,” Prine epitomizes it. Like Kottke, Prine is usually pinned with stereotypical folk but his music far surpasses that category.

His influences of blues, bluegrass, jazz and country are easily found throughout “Hello In There,” “Sam Stone” and “Christmas in Prison.”

Like Kottke, Prine’s songs are generally great stories and epics that stem from his own experiences or from the crazier events that happen in the world others take too seriously, as in “Space Monkey.”

Friday night Prine said, “I don’t always know what my songs are about until later.”

Although he may not always know what his music is about at first, it always seems to be songs we can all relate to — the kind of songs we can shake our heads and laugh at, not because they are funny but because he brings though the harsh truth and reality of life more clearly than anyone else.

This reality was shown through “That’s the Way the World Goes ‘Round” and “Dear Abby.”

Prine also had the stage to himself and again the spotlight was not necessarily on the musician but the guitar and the song lyrics. And his stage presence, though not as entertaining as Kottke, brought the audience closer to him and his music.

You almost felt like you were sitting around the campfire with “Uncle John” and reminiscing about the “good ‘ole days.”

Prine showed his musical ability best during “Peaceful Waters,” where he and the guitar let completely lose on stage in an all-out jam Prine’s way.

The result was a standing ovation (there were a lot of those during the night) and the audience screaming for more.

In the end, Prine was joined by Kottke to play one of his first and greatest songs, “Paradise.” It was amazing to see two legendary folk and bluegrass artists who like to do things their own way collaborating on stage. This brought nearly a three-and-a-half-hour concert to a close.

There was one unfortunate detail about this concert. Too many people don’t know who Prine and Kottke are.

“John who?” was a phrase I heard one too many times this weekend. People who are unfamiliar with the names and music of these guys are missing a lot and they especially missed the remarkable musicianship of the most laid-back and relaxing concert of the year.

The woman next to me was right; this “kid” did enjoy the concert.