Chuck Prophet

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  • #30362
    LWjetta
    Participant

    We haven’t discussed Chuck’s music for a while. ( Since tntracy and WESTWORDS caught his show at Eddie’s Attic in July), so I thought I’d give a heads up to Lafayette if she has any music money left.
    Appearing at Southgate House in Newport, KY Thurs. October 21st
    Ballroom – Presented by JBM Promotions & 89.7 WNKU
    Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express ::: Kim Richey
    This will be a co-headlining performance

    Chuck Prophet shapes his restless career with inimitable subtle flair: a vivid parade of razor-edged one-liners camouflaged in a slack-jawed drawl, songs about heartbreak and everyman heroism, drenched in twisted lines of rude Telecaster. At 18, Chuck Prophet left his native Whittier, CA for San Francisco, which he still calls home, and before too long joined Green on Red, a gang of interloping Arizonans with no small impact on L.A.’s Paisley Underground. But now, he has created his career high-water mark. Β‘Let Freedom Ring! wanders into the fractured, surreal state of the American Dream and emerges with the most vital document of Prophet’s vision, a reflection of life and love for troubled times. When the early stages of a financial melt-down coincided with a rare San Francisco heat wave in the summer of 2008, Prophet wrote a collection of political songs for non-political people. Later, in April 2009, he journeyed to Mexico City, where, in the clutches of a Swine Flu panic and earthquakes, he recorded Β‘Let Freedom Ring!, his most incendiary record, every bit as urgent as the title demands. Two-time Grammy-nominated Kim Richey is a storyteller; a weaver of emotions and a tugger of heartstrings. Tender, poetic and aching with life’s truths, Kim’s songs transport you to her world, where words paint pictures and melodies touch the soul.
    7:30pm doors / 8pm show $12. adv. $15.door
    Here is a recent short video of Chuck “You Did(Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp “at a place in SF called “The Makeout Room”.

    #44537
    tntracy
    Participant

    Wish I could see him again, but the closest he is coming to Atlanta this tour is Memphis… πŸ˜₯

    Tom

    #44538
    West Words
    Participant

    Lafayette – GO! Chuck always puts on a great show, and I was there for the second night at the Make Out Room. Kim Richey is also very good; you will like them. GO! πŸ™‚

    #44539
    Lafayette
    Participant

    HA! Yes, I will definitely think about it. I was over at the studio, WNKU, last week volunteering during pledge week and saw on their calendar a Chuck and Kim On Air, Oct 21 at 3:00 p.m. You can listen LIVE ❗ at http://www.wnku.org

    Concert money left? Sheesh…I am really tapped out but I will try to go…it’s more a timing thang!

    #44540
    Lafayette
    Participant

    The following ran hard copy in today’s Cincinnati Enquirer. The music director, John Patrick, was asked for his thoughts on Chuck Prophet. JP is the “go to guy” when I visit or call WNKU as I love to talk to him about Mellencamp and Lu, he is a big fan of both.

    http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101018/ent03/10180330/1025/ent&template=iphoneart

    If you can measure a person’s character by the quality of his friends, Chuck Prophet is a lucky man.

    The San Francisco singer-songwriter plays the Southgate House in Newport Thursday with one of those friends, Kim Richey. Earlier in the day, they will stop by WNKU-FM (89.7), where music director John Patrick once described Prophet as “the coolest guy we’ve ever had in here.”Testimonials are nice, but the proof is in the music. Prophet’s latest album, “Let Freedom Ring!” is a meditation on our life and times, somewhat inspired by one his heroes.

    “It was Hunter S. Thompson who really based his career on the life, death, rebirth and total disappearing of the American dream,” Prophet says. “I was interested in that when I started writing songs for this album. I had the window open, and after about two or three songs, I realized that’s where I was going.”

    In addition to his solo projects, Prophet is a trusted collaborator to folks like Richey and Alejandro Escovedo among others. He co-wrote more than half of the songs on Escovedo’s 2010 “Street Songs of Love” and partnered on every one on 2008’s “Real Animal.”

    “When we get in a room, we just never run out of things to talk about,” Prophet says of Escovedo. “It’s like touching two jumper cables together. The songs just kind of spill out of that. To Al’s credit, he has the ability to make somebody feel like you’ve known him your whole life.”

    Prophet’s whole life hasn’t been spent basking in a cocoon of critical acclaim. He started living the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle as a teenager, and fell victim to those temptations. But while he struggled with a drug problem, he also made good music with the band Green on Red, an early acolyte of the country punk sound.

    “We really took that lifestyle thing as far we could,” he remembers. “We were working with (Memphis musical legend) Jim Dickinson on a record called ‘The Killer Inside Me,’ which kind of split the band, brother vs. brother.

    “While we were there, Alex (Chilton of the Box Tops and Big Star) would drop by. … Big Star was like the Sex Pistols in their own way … the influence that it had, just like the influence that the Velvet Underground had, Big Star had the same amount of influence.”

    Spending time with Dickinson (who died last year) and Chilton (who died this year) certainly influenced Prophet, but cool innately knows cool.

    “The thing about Alex is … he was cool. He didn’t have to say a lot about (his life and music), and he never did a lot of explaining. There was nothing exaggerated at all. He was the coolest (guy) who ever lived.”

    Patrick might disagree. “(Prophet) is just cool. You can’t fake cool.”


    “You can’t fake cool”…John Patrick 8)

    #44541
    tntracy
    Participant

    Thanks for the link, Lafayette. Chuck read it, too. He just posted on Facebook w/ a link to the article, “If I’m so cool, how come I can’t find my keys?” πŸ˜†

    Tom

    #44542
    Lafayette
    Participant

    @tntracy wrote:

    Thanks for the link, Lafayette. Chuck read it, too. He just posted on Facebook w/ a link to the article, “If I’m so cool, how come I can’t find my keys?” πŸ˜†

    Tom

    Oh, that’s hilarious! I just called JP, he’s on the air until 3:00 p.m. today, regaling him with your Chuck Prophet facebook find. He didn’t know the preview would run today so he thanked me. If you want to tune in right now, online, it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t spin a CP song AND perhaps a Lu song since I told him we were “chatting” about the article and Lu was a Chuck fan as he opened a tour for her. JP wasn’t aware of the “CP opening for Lu” trivia. He likes to spin music by artist association or as we refer here…connecting the dots.

    http://www.wnku.org

    #44543
    LWjetta
    Participant

    As I post this, got WNKU on.
    Kim Richey is now singing.(Wreck your Wheels)
    Great station Lafayette.
    Now Chuck is on.(Let me get this chocolate off the Floor……)
    I assume you have now purchased your Southgate House ticket by now

    #44544
    Lafayette
    Participant

    @LWjetta wrote:

    As I post this, got WNKU on.
    Kim Richey is now singing.(Wreck your Wheels)
    Great station Lafayette.
    Now Chuck is on.(Let me get this chocolate off the Floor……)
    I assume you have now purchased your Southgate House ticket by now

    Yes, and did you hear JP mention the article and the facebook link after spinning Chuck? I know him like a book when it comes to spinning music…although I lost my bottom dollar on the Lu spin. He took it in a different direction, playing Tom Petty instead, after saying Chuck is compared to Tom Petty. I was holding out hope we would hear “Change The Locks” by Lu following TP, but he didn’t go there.

    Chuck will be doing an On Air with Kim Ritchey on the day of the show, at 3:00 p.m. Unfortunately, JP signs off then, but there is no doubt if he was doing the interview, he would have brought up the facebook thing.

    I haven’t purchased ticket yet, I’m on a mission to get house work finished before a birthday overnight this weekend so 7 (12 year old) boys can tear the joint up, however, I’m leaning toward going.

    #44545
    LWjetta
    Participant

    Have a listen to Chuck live on KUT-FM, Austin, TX from October 28, 2010.
    http://kut.org/items/show/23162
    lwj

    #44546
    LWjetta
    Participant

    Here’s Chuck in WNKU’s studios. ( Lafayette’s favorite PBS station )
    Note the double neck guitar.
    Song is “Holdin’ On”
    http://www.youtube.com/user/WNKU#p/a/u/1/GBNxRgS-YeQ
    lwj

    #44547
    LWjetta
    Participant

    Chuck and his wife Stephanie performing recently from the balcony in London, UK.
    Just scroll down.
    Balcony TV is an interesting music site broadcasting live music from a balcony of course from many different cities around the world.

    http://www.balconytv.com/london
    lwj

    #44548
    LWjetta
    Participant

    It’s a holiday here in Canada today, thought I’d do a little research on Chuck’s career.
    Seems he started out in 1985 with a rock band called “Green on Red”
    So let’s watch a performance from London, UK in 1992.
    Y’all can see Chuck “smokin” on lead guitar.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XsX1HE6rng&feature=related

    lwj

    #44549
    West Words
    Participant

    I had the great privilege of seeing Chuck this past Saturday at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The Titan Ups opened doing The Specials’ debut album; and Chuck, Chris von Sneidern, and the Spanish Bombs did the Clash’s “London Calling”. Most fun show ever! The entire floor was bouncing from all the dancing. If you ever get the opportunity to see Chuck live, DO IT! πŸ˜€

    P.S. When I told him that Stoger said to say “hello”, he said “you mean Lucinda Stoger”? πŸ™‚

    #44550
    LWjetta
    Participant

    @West Words wrote:

    I had the great privilege of seeing Chuck this past Saturday at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The Titan Ups opened doing The Specials’ debut album; and Chuck, Chris von Sneidern, and the Spanish Bombs did the Clash’s “London Calling”. Most fun show ever! The entire floor was bouncing from all the dancing. If you ever get the opportunity to see Chuck live, DO IT! πŸ˜€

    P.S. When I told him that Stoger said to say “hello”, he said “you mean Lucinda Stoger”? πŸ™‚

    Fun show you aren’t kidding West Words.
    For the memories, let’s watch Chuck and the Spanish Bombs-song is “Bank Robber”
    Love the back up harmony from the crowd and the finale to the song.
    Seems the entire album is on You Tube from this night.
    Sure hope Chuck would make it up to Canada sometime.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRkPowin22o

    lwj
    p.s. Hopefully I’ll get to meet that Lucinda Stoger guy in Toronto on March 4th.

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