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 a genre that traces its roots back to the jungles of South America.
“There’s something about dancing that’s life affirming,” says Prophet. “It’s a means of personal expression and celebration and human connection no matter where you come from or what language you speak.”
Like so many of life’s little joys, it’s something Prophet—who’s now in full remission—appreciates now more than ever. “It’s a good day to walk on water / Good day to swallow your pride,” he sings in the album’s final moments. “Good day to call your mother / Oh, it’s a good day to be alive.”
It’ll be a good day on Saturday, May 24th, when Chuck Prophet and His Cumbia Shoes take the stage at Strawberry! Listen and learn more here.
