When a stage four lymphoma diagnosis forced him off the road and into the hospital, Chuck Prophet didn’t know if he’d live long enough to see the end of the year, let alone get back on tour.
“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.”
That much is plain to hear on Wake The Dead, Prophet’s extraordinary new album. Recorded with band of brothers ¿Qiensave?, the collection explores the world of Cumbia music, which consumed and comforted Prophet during his illness and subsequent recovery. The songs are intoxicatingly rhythmic, all but demanding you move your body, with arrangements that blur
the lines between tradition and innovation. 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 to the jungles of South America.
Captured live in the studio, Wake The Dead resumes Prophet’s streak of more than a dozen critically acclaimed solo albums stretching all the way back to 1990, when the California
native first shifted focus from pioneering neo-psych band Green on Red to working under his own name. Since then, Prophet—who’s now in full remission—has earned raves everywhere from Rolling Stone to NPR, landed songs in a slew of films and television shows, and seen his work covered by Bruce Springsteen, Solomon Burke, and Heart, among others.
The Wayside open the show at 6:00. H.E.A.L. presentation at 7:00 Chuck Prophet takes the stage at 7:30. Whitesburg Farmers Market 4:30-7:00.
The Levitt AMP Whitesburg Music Series is a project of the Cowan Community Center and partners the City of Whitesburg, the Mountain Heritage Festival Committee, Appalshop, Letcher Tourism and Whitesburg Farmers Market.
The series is supported in part by the Levitt Foundation, which partners with communities across America to activate underused public spaces through the power of free live music, creating welcoming, inclusive destinations where people of all ages and backgrounds come together. For more information, www. levitt.org.
Appalachian Regional Healthcare is the presenting sponsor of the series. Our diamond sponsor is double kwik stores and our platinum sponsors are Hunt Brothers Pizza, Partners for Rural Impact and Appalachian Impact Fund. Our gold sponsors are Joel & Fern, and Horn & Associates. Silver sponsors are Mountain Association, Parkway Pharmacy, Community Trust, Rocket Farm, Blair Heavy Equipment Repair & Welding, & Mitchum Addison Whitaker.
Also check out other Music events in Whitesburg, Entertainment events in Whitesburg, Festivals in Whitesburg.
