Chuck Prophet and ¿Qiensave? Release Cumbia Album |
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“Pure joy” - MOJO (4/5 Stars)
“Defiantly vigorous” - Uncut (8/10 Stars)
“Across these 11 tracks, Prophet adventurously explores new lyrical concepts (including calling out Elon for, you know, all that stuff he does) nearly as much as he does “cousin” Latin-American genre territories including samba, bossa novas, and boleros.” - FLOOD Magazine
“A stylistic gem, a spring of brave hope and resilient promise, an abundantly textured offering of deep reinvigoration and clear, harmonious reverence.” - Americana Highways
“An adventurous, soulful project that deftly balances darkness and hope, shot through with the unmistakable energy of a veteran musician having more fun than he has in years.” - KQED |
October 25, 2024: Today, San Francisco-based singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer Chuck Prophet released Wake The Dead, a new collaborative album with cumbia group ¿Qiensave? available everywhere through Yep Roc Records. An extraordinary and unlikely pairing, Prophet and ¿Qiensave? blend seamlessly together as the collection dives headfirst into the world of cumbia music, which consumed and comforted Prophet during a recent battle with stage four lymphoma and subsequent recovery. They also shared a video for “First Came The Thunder,” a melancholy tune that follows a lonesome lover chasing down a memory that hangs perpetually out of reach. |
Prophet sat down with NPR’s Morning Edition to chat about Wake The Dead, his cancer diagnosis, meeting ¿Qiensave?, and how casual jam sessions led to rollicking live shows and ultimately recording an album together.
Prophet’s fascination with cumbia began after experiencing a weekly cumbia night at a local haunt in San Francisco’s Mission district. He quickly became obsessed: collecting old vinyl from Latin America, studying its origins, DJ’ing, and loading his friends up with new mixes every time they came to visit. After he was diagnosed, he had a lot of time to just sit and listen as he went through treatments. “I was going through a tunnel,” he recalls. “It was dark. But I had music: music to play, music to listen to, music to get me out of my head. Music was my savior.” More than any other genre, cumbia served as a faithful musical companion and reprieve during his immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
Once recovered, Prophet started driving out to Salinas on a regular basis to jam with ¿Qiensave?, a group of brothers based in the Central Coast farming community. The sessions came together on a whim, for the sheer fun of it at first, but Prophet soon invited the band to back him up at a couple of live shows, and the immediate reaction from audiences made it clear they were on to something special. Prophet and ¿Qiensave? hit the studio soon afterwards, where they blended with his longtime backing band, The Mission Express, to track the heart of Wake The Dead live on the floor. It was chaotic at times, cramming as many as eight musicians into the same studio space, but they prioritized gut feeling over sonic perfection and allowed the undeniable energy of the performances to guide them. Watch the official video for the “soft Western-esque ballad” (FLOOD) “Red Sky Night,” which shows behind-the-scenes footage of Prophet, his band The Mission Express, and ¿Qiensave? in the studio during the album recording sessions, their melding of sound and creative energy on full display.
The result is a profoundly adventurous celebration of life that balances hope and fear in equal measure, a rich and exultant meditation on what really matters from an artist who always manages to find the light, even in the face of the most oppressing darkness. Prophet approaches the style not as an academic or historian, but as a fan with a voracious appetite and an insatiable curiosity. The songs are intoxicatingly rhythmic, all but demanding you move your body while you listen, with arrangements that blur the lines between tradition and innovation, between past and present, between cultures and countries. There are flashes of rock and roll, punk, surf, and soul, all filtered through the streets of San Francisco and wrapped up in the rich legacy of a genre that traces its roots back hundreds of years and thousands of miles.
Watch the Official Video for “Wake The Dead.” Watch the Official Video for “Sugar Into Water.”
In support of Wake The Dead, Prophet will embark on an extensive tour that will feature members of ¿Qiensave? and his long-time band The Mission Express, dubbed “Chuck Prophet & His Cumbia Shoes.” The tour kicks off next month and will take them across Europe, the US, and the UK. For more information or to purchase tickets, see below or visit his website.
Track Listing: 01) Wake The Dead 02) Betty’s Song 03) Give The Boy A Kiss 04) First Came The Thunder 05) Sally Was A Cop 06) Red Sky Night 07) Same Old Crime 08) One Lie For Me, One For You 09) Sugar Into Water 10) In The Shadows (for Elon) 11) Good Day To Be Alive
Tour Dates: 11/05 - Oberhausen, DE @ Zentrum Altenberg 11/06 - Heilbroon, DE @ Waldhaus 11/07 - Russelheim, DE @ Das Rind 11/08 - Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicer 11/09 - Malmo, SE @ Plan B 11/10 - Copenhagen, DK @ Råhuset 11/11 - Aarhus, DK @ Headquarters 11/13 - Berlin, DE @ Privatclub 11/15 - Šumperk, CZ @ Blues Alive Festival 11/16 - Vienna, AT @ Chelsea 11/17 - Geislelin, DE @ Rätschenmühle 11/18 - Zurich, CH @ El Lokal 11/20 - Bilbao, ES @ Kafe Antzokia 11/21 - Santander, ES @ Espacio Escenario 11/22 - Madrid, ES @ El Sol 11/23 - Valencia, ES @ Loco Club 11/24 - Zaragoza, ES @ Rock & Blues Cafe 11/26 - Leffinge, BE @ De Zwerver 11/27 - Groningen, NL @ Vera 11/28 - Bolsward, NL @ Ons Gebouw 11/29 - Hengelo, NL @ Metropool 11/30 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique 12/01 - Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet 01/16 - New Orleans, LA @ Chickie Wah Wah 01/17 - South Walton Co, FL @ 30A Songwriters Festival 01/18 - South Walton Co, FL @ 30A Songwriters Festival 01/21 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern Cafe and Music Hall 01/22 - Washington, DC @ The Hamilton 01/24 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live 01/25 - Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head On Stage 01/26 - New York, NY @ City Winery 01/28 - Boston, MA @ City Winery 01/29 - Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace 01/30 - Northampton, MA @ The Iron Horse 01/31 - Woodstock, NY @ Levon Helm Studios 02/01 - Fall River, MA @ Narrows Center for the Arts 02/02 - Old Saybrook, CT @ The Kate 02/04 - Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall 02/05 - Columbus, OH @ Natalies Grandview 02/07 - Berwyn, IL @ Fitzgeralds 02/08 - Stoughton, WI @ Stoughton Opera House 02/19 - Oxford, UK @ The Bullingdon 02/20 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club 02/21 - Manchester, UK @ Yes Pink Room 02/22 - Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny 02/23 - Glasgow, UK @ St. Lukes 02/24 - Sheffield, UK @ The Greystones 02/25 - Leicester, UK @ The International 02/27 - Cambridge, UK @ Portland Arms 02/28 - Norwich, UK @ Arts Centre 03/01 - Hassocks, UK @ Mid Sussex Music Hall 03/02 - Bristol, UK @ Lantern 03/03 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds 03/04 - Southampton, UK @ Eighteensixtyfive 03/05 - London, UK @ The Garage |
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(Credit: Kory Thibeault) |
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