Chuck and his faithful Mission Express kick off the Panic In The Temple Spring 2013 Tour in Berlin, Germany on April 12 and rock it international until returning to the States on May 9 in Milwaukee, WI. Check out the full itinerary here.
The Impound once saw San Francisco treat Chuck Prophet play two sets in a single day at the High Sierra Music Festival. Although a muggy summer day, Prophet didn’t seem to break a sweat as music – great song after great song, all played really freakin’ well – poured out of him. While we’d long been impressed with his six-string prowess going back to his raw-yet-innovative days in Green On Red, something nigh-sorcerous occurred that day where it became clear that Prophet has stealthily evolved into an American counterpart to Richard Thompson, the two men sharing a startling emotional density and seemingly endless range as guitarists.
Prophet’s guitar stings and swings as well as any shredder when he’s of a mind to let loose in that fashion, but more frequently he rides in the meat of the music, his guitar another voice “singing” the heart and soul of the lyrics, a melodic partner that instilling added oomph into each piece. Like kindred under-sung American champ (and Impound fave) Jerry Joseph, it may be that Prophet’s guitar skills are too sharp and too subtle to rate appropriate general praise, but really listen intently to what he’s up to and you’ll hear a true servant of the song whose punctuation, interjections, and intuitive bite are everywhere they need to be all the time. More simply, if what you seek is righteous feel and not showy solos, Prophet’s got you covered.
Chuck was kind enough to dabble with DI’s ongoing survey of guitarists.