Friday, March 5: Chuck Prophet / The Waylons
Chuck Prophet shapes his restless career with inimitable subtle flair: a vivid parade of razor-edged one-liners camouflaged in a slack-jawed drawl, songs about heartbreak and everyman heroism, drenched in twisted lines of rude Telecaster. When the early stages of a financial melt-down coincided with a rare San Francisco heat wave in the summer of 2008, with the window open wide and Dwight Twilley, Iggy, Thin Lizzy and the Knack blaring out the hi-fi, Prophet wrote a collection of political songs for non-political people. Later, in April 2009, he journeyed to Mexico City, where, in the clutches of a Swine Flu panic and earthquakes, he recorded ¡Let Freedom Ring!, his most incendiary record, every bit as urgent as the title demands.
with THE WAYLONS:
“Their self-titled debut is a solid slab of rock that begs comparisons to other no-frills acts like the Replacements, Buffalo Tom, and even Sloan and the Shins.” — popmatters.com
Unjustly overlooked thus far, this indie four-piece bangs out a good line in ‘hardfolk’ and, on the strength of this record, deserve to be snapped up by a decent label. Reviving the lost art of melody with jangly guitars and ‘proper’ choruses, they manage to sound accessible without ever getting sugary or predictable…The name ‘The Waylons’ suggests country but this is about as country as The Replacements; i.e., not at all… In the fine tradition of bands as far back as The Kinks to more modern outfits like Buffalo Tom, The Waylons give the (sometimes unfashionable) three minute pop song the credibility it seems to have lost over the years. The next album will be on a major label. Guaranteed. – Americana UK