KC TURNER PRESENTS
CHUCK PROPHET
& HIS CUMBIA SHOES
+ JACK BARKSDALE
13th Annual COOKOUT CONCERT SERIES
HOPMONK NOVATO OUTDOOR VENUE
Sponsored by JAMBAR
MOSTLY STANDING ON GROUND LEVEL
LIMITED SEATING ON LAWN & TOP OF HILL
ALL AGES
ABOUT:
Wake The Dead – California singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer Chuck Prophet’s new collaborative album with Cumbia group ¿Qiensave? – was released on October 25th 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 bout with stage four lymphoma and subsequent recovery. They also shared the album’s lead single and title track “Wake The Dead,” an anthem that reckons with forces beyond our control while learning to let go, a recurring theme at the core of the album.
“I never want to be a downer,” stated Prophet. “This record doesn’t shy away from darkness, but it always feels hopeful. When I was growing up listening to The Clash and their flirtations with reggae, the thing I remember most is how the music hit me, how it made me feel. The more you listened, the more was revealed, but on the most fundamental level, those records just felt good, and that was really important to me with this album.”
Prophet’s fascination with Cumbia music began after experiencing a weekly Cumbia night at a local haunt of his 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 he was finally feeling better, Prophet started driving out to Salinas on a regular basis to jam with a group he’d fallen in love with called ¿Qiensave?, a band of brothers from 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.
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.
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EVENT INFO:
Q: Is this show outdoors?
A: Yes. This event is held in HopMonk Novato's outdoor concert venue.
Q: Are kids allowed?
A: The shows are all ages. Kids need a ticket to attend. No babies in arms.
Q: Is there seating?
A: Seating is limited and is first come. You're allowed a LOW-BACK chair in the lawn section. At the top of the hillside section there is table seating that is first come. We recommend arriving at the time doors open. Some shows are open dance floor/standing room only while others are mostly seated. Varies from show to show.
Q: Is there parking?
A: Parking is free and there is plenty of it.
NO PETS
NO COOLERS
NO BACKPACKS
NO OUTSIDE FOOD
NO UMBRELLAS
