This is how to write a song about history and politics that feels natural and personal. It reflects the Californian singer-songwriter’s childhood in a Republican household in Nixon’s home town of La Habra. Aside from the intriguing subject matter, this is a well-crafted, engaging song with Prophet in good form. The entertaining video for ‘Nixonland’ features comic-strip style animation interspersed with news footage and photos of Nixon. It’s taken from ‘The Land That Time Forgot’, which drops on August 21st. Something to look forward to during these strange days.
Tag: Chuck Prophet
The top 10 Americana music videos
Creating videos to accompany releases has long been the norm in the music business and our particular field of interest, although not generally burdened with the cliche of mainstream releases is still prone to taking the easy route and there are some frankly dull examples. However some have aspired to create a work of art in their own right whether it be social commentary, an amusing narrative or a comment on the human condition as highlighted by the lyric in that particular song. The videos featured are all ‘official’ releases, although there are some great fan videos wherein footage has been added to tracks (Phil Bebbington’s channel holds many jewels from our genre); however for the purposes of this exercise we will stick to the artist’s ‘vision’. Continue reading “The top 10 Americana music videos”
Pick of the Political Pops: Chuck Prophet “You Did”
Well we are relatively OK here at AUK Towers thanks for asking. Obviously we can lock the door to The Bunker and in any case the extra security that we flew in from Romania are doing sterling work in keeping the hoi-poloi from the grounds. The bar is still fully stocked because our suppliers are deemed too unimportant to protect their staff and furlough them. And we are keeping to a strict regime which is important for our mental health at this time of lockdown. One thing we make sure to do is to honour the daily ritual of “Kissing The Editor’s Ring” which we all enjoy because it gives us a sense of importance and is a reminder that we need to keep our priorities in order despite the lack of social distancing. Also it is in the AUK Constitution and we must honour the Constitution above all else including, like, y’know, common fucking sense. Continue reading “Pick of the Political Pops: Chuck Prophet “You Did””
10 songs for lovers of great writing
Mark Underwood continues his irregular feature on music by great songwriters with great lyrics, this time taking you through classics from the likes of Guy Clark, Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams. Continue reading “10 songs for lovers of great writing”
Ten cool songs about Jesus
Church attendance figures in the United States can seem quite staggering to us, largely secular, limeys. Around 45% attend on a regular basis compared to just 7% in the UK. In addition, many other Americans strongly identify with Christianity, even if they are not regular church-goers. Furthermore, the South, from where much of the music we champion comes from, accounts for 11 of the top 12 states for highest level of active worship (the exception is Utah), each being higher than the national average. Continue reading “Ten cool songs about Jesus”
Chuck Prophet in pretentiousness accusation
Now normally we’d be the first leaping to Chuck Prophet’s defence from this terrible accusation that he is in some way pretentious. Trouble is we’re in a quandary since the accusation comes from well known Chuck Prophet expert Chuck Prophet. Yes – this is a self accusation. What days we live in. Continue reading “Chuck Prophet in pretentiousness accusation”
Chuck Prophet announces new album
Guitar god Chuck Prophet has some good news for us all – May 15th will see his latest album ‘The Land that Time Forgot‘ carried shoulder high into the streets by Yep Roc. We don’t like to go too hyperbolic, but it’s fairly safe to predict that this one’s going straight to the top of the Americana charts. Why so sure? Dude – Chuck Prophet! Need we say more? We need not. Continue reading “Chuck Prophet announces new album”
Red Rooster Festival announces second wave of acts
Red Rooster Festival in Euston Hall, Suffolk has announced its second wave of acts, including a UK festival exclusive from Asleep At The Wheel who celebrate their 50th Anniversary. The festival is also set to include special performances by Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express, Jim Lauderdale – who is a 2-time Grammy winning Americana icon – Reverend John Wilkins, CC Adcock & The Lafayette Marquis, Tommy McLain, Jontavious Willis, Izo Fitzroy w/ Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir, and The Vagaband Youth Orchestra. Continue reading “Red Rooster Festival announces second wave of acts”
Video: Chuck Prophet “Get Off the Stage”
So, last week saw Donald Trump acquitted. As he celebrated, he said: “I’ve done wrong things in my life, I will admit…but this is what the end result is,” holding up the newspaper headline. Who knows what this week will bring? But we’ll start it with this fabulous stop-motion video from Chuck Prophet, not normally known for being political. However, here he is letting us know what he thinks about Trump’s impeachment.
AUK’s Chain Gang: Chuck Prophet “Truth Will Out (Ballad of Melissa and Remy)”
Chains can be thick enough to hold an anchor or as tenuous as the stalks of a daisy. This choice is going to the tenuous end of the spectrum. Following on from last week’s excellent choice the risk was that if I played the Jay from Jayhawks I’d hit right on Jay Ferrar, and then as sure as day follows night that’d have meant picking ‘Feed Kill Chain‘. And after that we’d surely be stepping back to Mornington Crescent Wilco on the shortest piece of chain ever. So instead let’s take ‘Sound of Lies‘ as a jumping off point, and you know that you can only lie for so long before the structure collapses and the truth crawls out – as Chuck Prophet explains on this typically complex song from ‘Night Tales‘ .