“I want to introduce you to one of my favourite guitar players in the whole f**king world…. There are guitarists who are good and some guitar players who are f**king good. And then there’s Kaki King” - Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, live in concert at the O2 Arena, November 2008

KAKI KING
“Dreaming Of Revenge”
Irish Release 27th June 2008 on Cooking Vinyl
www.myspace.com/kakiking ~ www.kakiking.com

“the queen of instrumental nu-gaze guitar…dazzling” – MOJO
“a cult guitar heroine on the indie fringes” - The Independent
“laced with sonic invention, look no further” - Guitar Magazine
“That’s Kaki King. She’s an amazing guitarist. Go to Youtube and watch the video for Playing With Pink Noise. She makes Eddie Van Halen look like he was in the Germs!” – Dave Grohl, quoted in MOJO

Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers started their hell-for-leather, Penta-caustic roadshow just a few years ago and have since earned quite a name for themselves with their unique brand of American Gothic that is all-at-once irreverent, revisionist, dangerous, and fun. Led by their wildly charismatic rail thin frontman, the blues-harpist J.D. Wilkes, the Shack*Shakers are a four-man wrecking crew from the South whose explosive interpretations of the blues, punk, rock and country have made fans, critics and legions of potential converts into true believers.

Described as '...the last great Rock and Roll frontman' by Jello Biafra (of the Dead Kennedys), Shack*Shakers front man J.D. Wilkes began yelpin the blues through a ham radio microphone at his boyhood home of Paducah, Kentucky...a short farmer's blow away from where his future bassist Mark Robertson was cutting his teeth on punk rock and gospel in Nashville, Tennessee. When their paths crossed a few years later in the lawless honky tonks of Music City's Lower Broadway scene, they found their individuated styles and common interests meshed and that's when the like-minded, red-headed musical misfits began their crusade. With the addition of guitarist extraordinaire David Lee (South Carolina's preeminent bad-ass and 'Illustrated Man') and drumming wunderkind, Brett Whitacre, th' Legendary Shack*Shakers have quickly become known for providing some of the best entertainment (live or otherwise) that you can get for your hard earned money.

For the uninitiated, the band's debauched live show is the necessary counterpart to their hard-hitting recordings. Hillbilly royalty, Hank Williams III once said after touring with them that it was 'like having SLAYER open up for you every night,' and called J.D. Wilkes and his crew, 'the best damn front man and band in America.' On stage, J.D. Wilkes is like a mad southern preacher with a bible in one hand and a glass of strychnine in the other. Meshing Pentecostal themes with pained lyrics and show-stopping moves that draw comparisons to Tom Waits and the grotesque facial and bodily contortions of Iggy Pop, the band has developed a live show like none other.

'We try to tap into basic primal instincts,' said Wilkes. 'Rock 'n' roll is a cathartic release. Anything that doesn't realize that bestial nature isn't rock 'n' roll.'
The band is also well known for 'The CB Song', a.k.a: the soundbed for the long-running 'Sunglasses' Geico commercial, featuring the famous gecko spokeslizard.
In addition to his musical accolades, J.D. Wilkes has also been recognized as an accomplished illustrator, painter, and filmmaker whose works further the band's mission of celebrating and honoring the tradition of the American south. Alarm Magazine recently described him as the 'Ambassador of Genuine Traditional Southern Culture' and compared his unique storytelling abilities to that of other Southern voices such as William Faulkner, Johnny Cash and Muddy Waters.

Listen : Th' Legendary Shack Shakers

Swampblood (Yep Roc Records) is their latest album....

Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers southern gothic epic has its latest chapter. With Swampblood the Colonel JD Wilkes takes the muddled influence of his new home in western Kentucky, pours it through the funnel of eerie south Louisiana bayou culture, and shakes it up 'til it explodes with the thick swamp blues of Slim Harpo. ? With this new offering the band plays with Wilkes' idea that, 'The world needs a ?new Creedence Clearwater Revival.' But don't think 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain,' Swampblood is all 'Run Through the Jungle' with its heavy but accessible chug-like the sound of a pirogue's plodding diesel outboard moving past the fire-breathing refineries of Port Sulfur. ??Though treading new ground, Swampblood holds true to the Shackshakers' signature aesthetic, resting on the dark fringes of American culture, more interested in the sinister nuances behind a frequently Rockwellian facade. Musically, straight swamp blues swirls with rockabilly, minor key polkas, and industrial rock all draped over Bo Diddly's primal thumping heartbeat. ?

Push Promotion is delighted to announce that Jimmy Edgar will be returning to Ireland to play for one night only in Spy on South William Street, Dublin 2. Tickets are on sale now price 14 Euro including booking fee from City Discs, Spin Dizzy, Big Brother, Road Records, WAV 1890 200 078 and online at www.tickets.ie.

CLICK HERE to buy tickets securely online

Jimmy Edgar - Fashion photographer, artist and musician ...

Detroit based Jimmy Edgar has been making music since he was 10 years old, when he started producing sounds electronically and fashioned his first analogue pieces. Influenced mainly by Jazz, Funk, Street Beat and R&B in these early years, he began his musical pursuits by playing the drums in bands and by producing music using tape recorders. Jimmy's intense love for music propelled him to learn many instruments, including guitar, bass, saxophone, percussion instruments and drums.

In 1998, at the age of 15, he started performing at Detroit raves with Techno pioneers such as Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May. Not long after making his debut on the Detroit scene, Edgar signed his first record deal with New York based Isophlux Records. His early releases were critically acclaimed and he attracted a lot of attention within the music industry. Jimmy was quickly courted by a number of other record labels including Merck Records, who released his debut album "My Mines I" in February of 2002. As his reputation as one of the leading innovators and producers of electronic music continued to grow, Warp Records made a successful bid to sign Jimmy Edgar in 2003.

Growing up in Detroit, the birth place of Techno music, Jimmy has a strong affinity for the musical genre. However, it is not easy to pigeon-hole or label Jimmy Edgar's music to one particular style. Although, he is noted for his development of a music style called 'glitch and error' (a unique deconstructive style of electronic music based on Techno and Funk) his music is well received across the music spectrum from indie-kids to techno-heads. He sits comfortably on the Warp Records' roster along side label mates such as Battles, Plaid and Clark.

His most recent releases are quite funky and Detroit sounding. They display a unique ‘rhythmical fashion' - while managing to remain fresh and eclectic yet retaining the minimal aesthetics of breaking the rhythm and melody down to its prime components, Jimmy has created a tight sound with an ultra-modern R&B glazed feel. Combining a variety of genres such as Funk, R&B, Soul, Hip-hop and classical music, Jimmy Edgar's current productions have depth, texture and a whole lot of attitude.

Jimmy does not limit his artistic expression to music alone. The visuals he creates to go along with his music are equally important to him. His musical influences are surrounded by avant-garde art movements such as minimalist concepts and strict colour schemes. He is also recognised for his visual art installations and artwork - both digital and handmade.

Jimmy Edgar is also an award winning fashion photographer whose work can be seen in such publications as H Magazine, Spot Magazine, Urb Magazine, Blink Magazine and more. When not producing and composing music, he divides his time as a fashion photographer between Los Angeles and New York City. Jimmy shoots in a varying of different styles from new digital HDR technology, to medium format film inspired by early Prada, Fendi and Calvin Klein ads.

Jimmy Edgar is a remarkably accomplished artist and only in his 25th year this young man has a stellar career ahead.

Come down and check Jimmy Edgar out in the plush surroundings of Spy on South William Street. This is going to be a great night of music from a truly remarkable and outstanding artist. A night that should not be missed!

www.jimmyedgar.com
www.myspace.com/colorstrip
www.jimmyedgarphotography.com

Tickets are on sale now price 14 Euro including booking fee from City Discs, Spin Dizzy, Big Brother, Road Records, WAV 1890 200 078 and online at www.tickets.ie.

Due to unforseen circumstances EDWYN COLLINS' May 1st show at the Village, Dublin has been cancelled. Full refunds available.

www.foreverpresents.ie

Edwyn Collins

www.edwyncollins.com ~ www.myspace.com/wwwmyspacecomedwyncollins

Not Falling, But Laughing

The first the world heard of Edwyn Collins was in February 1980 with the release of Falling And Laughing. The debut single by his band, Orange Juice, it was also the first offering from Postcard Records, the independent label Edwyn co-founded with Alan Horne, run from the latter’s sock drawer in a former Red Light district in Glasgow’s West End. As a record, Falling And Laughing was a hopeless cacophony of shrill guitars and an inexplicably loud bass drum pedal. But as a song, it was a sublime celebration of unfulfilled ardour to a tune that aimed to bridge the chasm between The Velvet Underground and Chic. In the age of New Romantics, Edwyn arrived as a Real Romantic, one unafraid to simultaneously embrace "the pleasure with the pain".

After ten more records, including three increasingly inventive Orange Juice singles, Postcard closed its sock drawer in late 1981. It would be another two decades before Edwyn and Horne’s endeavours would be belatedly recognised as a key foundation stone for indie music, particularly in Scotland where Primal Scream, Belle And Sebastian and Franz Ferdinand would all follow, and acknowledge, Orange Juice’s trailblazing example.

In the interim, Edwyn took Orange Juice into the Top 10 with 1983’s Rip It Up, perhaps the epitome of their Velvets/Chic punk-funk hybrid, complete with Buzzcocks-homage guitar solo. Alas, the pleasure of performing the song on Top Of The Pops was neutered by the pain of Legs & Co ripping up tissue paper whilst dancing on an adjoining stage. Jinxed thereafter, Orange Juice would later close their proverbial sock drawer in 1985.

Edwyn immediately embarked on a solo career, though it would be ten years before he found himself back on Top Of The Pops with 1995’s A Girl Like You. Luckily, this time Legs & Co were nowhere to be seen. Better still, the song’s northern soul groove and Isley Brothers guitar frills rewarded Edwyn with a genuine "worldwide smash" and enough royalties to fill a thousand sock drawers. Life, suddenly, was all pleasure.

Fast forward another decade to February 2005, when Edwyn had just finished recording songs for his sixth solo album. Among the rough mixes in the can was a track called One Is A Lonely Number. Exactly 25 years after Falling And Laughing, it saw the Old Romantic still embracing life’s pleasure with its pain: "If life breaks your heart, you needn’t fall apart." Little could he have realised how profoundly prophetic these words would become in the months that followed.

On Sunday, February 20, 2005, Edwyn was admitted to hospital after collapsing at home. He was later diagnosed with having suffered two cerebral haemorrhages and underwent a precarious neurological operation. Incredibly, through a combination of surgical brilliance, the heroic support of his family and his own seemingly invincible will power, Edwyn pulled through. Six months after his stroke, he was back at home. But more phenomenal still was his determination to overcome the physical after-effects hindering his movement and speech so he could return to the studio and finish the album he’d already begun.

The result is Home Again, a testament not only to Edwyn Collins the songwriter, but Edwyn the man and his resolute spirit. "This is hard for me," admits Edwyn. "I’m learning to live again after my stroke. But I am happy and contented also. I’m very pleased with the album and with the songs. I’m getting there and I feel grateful at last."

Recorded at Edwyn’s West Heath Studios in the six months prior to his illness, Home Again was mixed after his discharge from hospital with the help of engineer Seb Lewsley. "I said, Righto, Seb! Let’s start the mix," smiles Edwyn. "Bass up! Drums up! Let’s see how the thing develops. Like that, back and forth and back and forth and so on." Three years in the making, Home Again is by far the most remarkable solo album of Edwyn’s career, as much for its depth of content as the exceptional circumstances surrounding its creation. "You think so?" laughs Edwyn. "I’m just happy to get it finished!"

The poignant sentiment of the aforementioned One Is A Lonely Number makes for a perfect opener, its soundtrack a wonderfully eclectic fusion of dub bass and hillbilly banjo. "It is scary," says Edwyn of the song’s eerie lyrical resonance with his own recent trauma ("’Cos you’ve still got your mind/ Which will serve you in kind/ If you’re true to yourself.") "But it’s a great song," he adds. "When I hear it now, the lovely chords. I have sadness in my voice, but joy in my heart."

Much of Home Again is concerned with themes of self-discovery and retracing one’s roots. The beautiful title track, a wistful acoustic ballad where Edwyn reflects on his life’s back pages, is among his personal favourites. When he first awoke in hospital, he says it’s the tune he wanted to hear most. "At first, I needed quiet. But then, Where’s my music? My guitar? Where’s Home Again?," he laughs. "I am very proud of that song."

Home for Edwyn is North London, where he lives with his partner Grace and their son, William. But home is also Helmsdale, a coastal village in Caithness in the East Highlands of Scotland where Edwyn’s family originate. A place that’s "lonely and relaxing at the same time" says Edwyn, it inspired the album’s brooding folk epic, Leviathan. Its lyrics mention local landmark, The Whaligoe Steps: a staircase cut into a cliff face with 365 steps, "[one] for each day of the year." Says Edwyn, "I enjoy it up there immensely. The peacefulness and tranquillity. It’s a solitary life, but I find it liberating."

The same Caithness landscape reappears in Liberteenage Rag, Edwyn promising to return "way up north where they know my name" over a nimbly-plucked campfire-guitar vamp with echoes of early T. Rex. Escaping the hubbub of the Big Smoke also informs A Heavy Sigh, while the equally sanguine Written In Stone sees Edwyn once again striving "to find my way home." Between the introspective soul-searching, there’s also romance (the delicate In Your Heart and the bittersweet One Track Mind), religion (blues rocker 7th Son) and satire, with the Dylan-ish Superstar Talking Blues showing Edwyn’s not lost his gift for a witty rhyming couplet: "Now it’s Hello Motorola/Goodbye rock’n’rollers." Meanwhile, the gorgeous, lovelorn You’ll Never Know is a return to roots of a different kind, namely the Philly-via-Bearsden white soul of classic Orange Juice.

Fittingly, Home Again ends with Edwyn falling in love and breaking his heart on Then I Cried, thus returning full circle to the agony and the ecstasy of Falling And Laughing. "It’s just one of those little songs about tears and sadness," says Edwyn modestly. "It happened quickly in the studio one day. A nice little ending."

Finishing Home Again has been a Herculean struggle, but Edwyn’s perseverance has more than paid off. Asked to rate it against his entire body of work, Orange Juice included, Edwyn ponders for a few seconds. "Home Again," he finally says, "it’s perfect. These songs are me. This is who I am."

Home Again is the end of an incredible journey, but also the beginning of another. Edwyn is currently rehearsing with his band and hopes to make his return to live performance this autumn. "I sing every day," he says. "I’m getting better and better. It’s important for me. Music, it’s everything to me."

Despite all that he’s been through, in 2007 the Edwyn Collins of Home Again is not falling, but laughing. "My outlook on life has not changed. I’m chirpy and quite contented. I was dead, and I was resurrected again," he says, suddenly chuckling to himself.

"So, the show must go on!"

Edwyn Collins. Welcome home.

Forever Presents ...

The MAGNETIC FIELDS
Dublin Show added to 2008 European Tour
::: LIVE ::: Vicar Street, Dublin - July 8, 2008
€33.00 inc booking fee - Tickets will be on sale starting Friday, April 18 through Ticketmaster
More Info on www.foreverpresents.ie ~ www.houseoftomorrow.com

Catch PUSA in Ireland as part of their current World Tour:

* Belfast: Friday April 25th - Spring & Airbrake
* Dublin: Saturday April 26th - Tripod

>>> For Information / Interview requests / Promotional Copies contact Berube Communications on info@berubecommunications.com or phone 0872442695 <<<

Mixed Up S.O.B. video - CLICK HERE

The Presidents of the United States of America will be releasing a new single, “Mixed Up S.O.B” on Friday 25th April. Taken from their new album, These Are The Good Times People, the single will be available on CD and as a digital download bundle, and features two new tracks, “Ballad of the Unstoppable Female (The Anna Nicole Smith Story)” and “Fire The Pilot”. The accompanying promo video for “Mixed Up S.O.B” which was directed by Weird Al Yankovic, is currently the #1 video on YouTube’s Indie/ Alternative chart, #2 on YouTube’s Rock chart and the #4 music video overall on YouTube.

With These Are The Good Times People, PUSA have delivered an inventive, uplifting and often brilliant rock & roll album. Recorded with Northwest legends The Fastbacks’ and Young Fresh Fellows own Kurt Bloch (Robyn Hitchcock, Mudhoney, Les Thugs) and mixed by Martin Feveyear (Screaming Trees, The Epoxies, Amber Pacific). PUSA dig deep and pull off their most diverse and accomplished record yet on These Are The Good Times People, which shares the landscape with recent acclaimed efforts by like-minded groups The Hives and They Might Be Giants.

The Seattle-based groups' eponymous debut burst into the public eye in 1995 on the strength of radio smashes like "Lump" and "Peaches". They have been serving out their trademark joy-pop to crowds worldwide ever since. Their most recent campaign, around 2004's Love Everybody - featured sold out concerts in cities across the globe, including London, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Medford, OR. At these frenetic performances, blissed-out teens by the thousands have served as testament to PUSA’s timelessness.

Regarding the decision to leave Dance To The Radio, Whiskas explains, “It was a joy to be involved on a massive creative level with this album and with so much investment in that aspect of the record, it seemed wrong and I felt unable to plough that attention into it's release - so as a whole band we thought it would be best to seek an independent outlet for Life Processes. With Cooking Vinyl so enthusiastic about the album, we've felt quite comfortable throughout the change”

Life Processes is a considerable advancement from the scratchily acerbic, post-hardcore histrionics of its predecessor, and has been shaped with the assistance of renowed producer Matt Bayles (The Blood Brothers, Mastodon, Minus The Bear, Pearl Jam), in Seattle. The 11 tracks find the band honing their eruptive sound, resulting in a cohesive, intricate and expertly layered experience. “People may be surprised by some of the quieter, prettier parts; some of the heavier parts will raise eyebrows, too,” says singer Tom Woodhead. “‘Spanish Triangles’ is the song that will be mentioned most with regard to our ‘new direction’.”

Spanish Triangles will be available as an exclusive free download via RCRD LBL - www.rcrdlbl.com/sublabels/DRWND_IN_SND

iForward, Russia! are: Rob Canning (bass) / Katie Nicholls (drums) / Whiskas (guitar) / Tom Woodhead (vocals, keys)

	Willy Vlautin returns for his first acoustic headline set covering songs from his entire career. He will be supporting his new novel on Faber & Faber, NORTHLINE, which comes with it’s own soundtrack joined by his pedal steel and trumpet player, Paul Brainard (also of the Sadies) the shows will be a full set of music with a short spoken word segment.
	UNCUT label the bands the new "Kings of Americana" and has awarded them two albums of the month and placed “Post to Wire” as the 4th best album of 2004.
	Their last album and ep features performances from Joey Burns (Calexico) Howe Gelb (Giant Sand/Sno Angel), and Jacob Valenzula (Calexico).

Since arriving on Irish shores for the first time in 2004 as part of the Kilkenny Roots Festival, Richmond Fontaine have been leading the Alt-country Americana scene and just were awareded the best album and act by Americana UK for 2007 last month. They have put out a total of seven albums since forming in 1994 out of Portland Oregon. Richmond Fontaine have built themselves up from an SST cowpunk inspired band to a diverse and, at times, amazing live act leading them to be labelled the “Kings of Americana”. They have been compared to the likes of the Replacements, Blasters, Wilco and Ryan Adams. There last release “Thirteen Cities” sees the band evovling into one of the most interesting and intense leaders of literate rock from which the likes of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits have paved the way.

February saw the release of Willy Vlautin’s second novel, Northline, for Faber & Faber which has also gathered huge praise and it is the first time that an author has included his own original soundtrack to go along with the book which has already gathered 4 and 5 star reviews from Mojo and UNCUT

The bands last albums “The Fitzgerald” (2005) and the alt country classic “Post To Wire” (2004) both of which have been declared modern-day masterpieces and garnerd “albums of the month” with 5 stars in UNCUT who declared them the best new band in the world during 2005. Thirteen Cities has already received 4 star reviews in UNCUT and Mojo comparing Vlautin’s writing again to Waits and Springsteen.

"Vlautin's sharply distilled stories and disconnected melodies are a haunting soundtrack for a lost generation." Joe Breen, IRISH TIMES

"For all those still travelling Springsteen’s Thunder Road, Richmond Fontaine are the new drivers” **** Jamie Bowman, (THE) WORD

“nothing less than the Dylan of the dislocated” **** Simmy Richman, THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

7/10 NME, MOJO 4/5, UNCUT 5/5

"A future classic of American down-beat prose." Dazed & Confused

“...cheerless black, the colour of a world in mourning, for which Post To Wire is an exquisite soundtrack. Uncut’s discovery of the year….Fans of a certain kind of orphaned Americana are likely to fall on Post To Wire like apostles on The Grail. By which I mean anyone who’s been touched where it hurts by American Music Club, The Replacements, Uncle Tupelo, Ryan Adams, Dave Alvin or Gram Parsons will soon be entirely enthralled with this dark and mesmerizing masterpiece Brilliant.” ***** Uncut - Album of the Month

“Without a doubt, the best album of the decade so far” COMES WITH A SMILE

"Vlautin's one of the most compelling songwriters working today, compared equally to great American novelists like Raymond Carver or John Steinbeck and musicians such as Bruce Springsteen or Tom Waits" 4.5/5 THE SUN

“Importantly Richmond Fontaine’s America is not a mythic or exagerrated one. They capture the bleak mundanity of small-town life, and turn it into unforgiving art” **** THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

“A brave departure for those who can find its dusty and desolate charms” THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

“The most beautiful sad album of the year” Q Magazine 4/5

“A worthy companion, to Springsteen’s recent songbook.” THE OBSERVER

www.aintunes.com ~ www.myspace.com/notain
Ain will play the following dates:
May 1st, May 7th, May 13th and May 22nd.
WHELANS (Upstairs), Dublin
TICKETS: 10 Euro - includes booking fee
www.tickets.ie ~ info@wavtickets.com or 1890200078
There will be different guests on each night.
Doors are at 8pm.

Performing on RTE TV's "THE VIEW" - Click Here

"There's a bit of Neil Young to his raw-boned croon, and more than a bit of the Bad Seeds to the lurid pictures he paints of his "dead-eyed mistress". Excellent listening for the bleak midwinter." - Caroline Sullivan / The Guardian

"Wanna take a walk down some interesting folk pathways? Here's a good place to start!" - Kevin Courtney / Irish Times

Ain is from Kildare, Ireland.
He came to Dublin as a teenager
Started a band with some friends, called The Opiates.

Fast forward a couple of years and the desire to be Thurston Moore has since subsided, to be replaced by a bevy of influences – the most rooted of which stem from the deep south delta blues of Mississippi John Hurt, Walter Tangle Eye Jackson and the like.

Imagine the haunting howls of Skip James on “Devil Got My Woman,” invoked today with all relevance in tact.
This is the skewd folk-blues of Ain's laments.

From the Delta blues and a host of other influences from My Bloody Valentine through Mazzy Star to Suicide, that Ain's off-kilter, Folk-Blues emerged. His song writing treads a path between the raw, beauty of Will Oldham and the depraved solace of Elliott Smith - “I like the idea of finding comfort in the appeal of bad things, depraved things… And it goes well with the themes of death, boredom and well…”.

Ain took his EKO guitar to London Town and earlier this summer, entered 2Khz Studio with Ian Grimble in West London and the result is the gloriously understated, six-track mini-album, 'Close To Cotton'.

v.s.u.
Sold Heaven
Sunday
Inside Arc
Spill Our Hands
Close To Cotton

“Close To Cotton” is now available on CD or download.

More Info on www.foreverpresents.ie

See the video for the FRECKLE SONG - CLICK HERE
Performing on the LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN in the USA - CLICK HERE

Chuck Prophet, who released his album Soap and Water to critical acclaim last year, has announced he will be headlining the Carlsberg Kilkenny Rhythm & Roots Festival

* Sunday Night 4th May '08 - Ormonde Hotel Concert - Time: 11.00pm. Tickets: 17.50 Euro
* Monday 5th May '08 - Paris Texas - Time: 9.00pm. Tickets: 15.00 Euro

"Even in this iPod era, albums can be journeys of discovery. When I started out on Soap and Water I was armed with a huge admiration for San Francisco-based guitarist and songwriter Chuck Prophet, his work with seminal alt. everything band Green on Red, and his large body of solo work. Soap and Water, however, seemed cloaked in obscurity and the music was oddly rootless. A few dozen plays later and there is not a track I'd change - though I might argue a backing vocal here or a guitar lick there. This is a monumental album of constant surprise, chilled intelligence and quietly assured song writing skill, singing, playing and production. Prophet has said it was inspired by wayward rock icon Alex Chilton, but I also hear Randy Newman's caustic amusement at the human condition, especially on the epic New Kingdom. Wonderful, but time is required."
~ FIVE out of FIVE Stars ***** - Joe Breen - Irish Times

“The odd electronic beat may beef up Prophet’s swampy blues and dusty country, but his ninth solo album is lavish and haunting, from the post-punk attitude of Doubter Out Of Jesus (All Over You) to Freckle Song’s bog riffing.” – “The best work of his career” ~ Q Magazine / ****, Q Recommends

“His most satisfying album yet. The rang of styles is impressive, from the pale hip hop of Something Stupid to the title track’s murky southern fun and the swamp-blues of A Woman’s Voice.” ~ Uncut ****

“Soap and Water runs the gamut of Prophet's influences, from Bob Dylan (Naked Ray) to Alex Chilton (Let's Do Something Wrong) and the Stones (Soap and Water), all of it delivered with a quixotic swagger and Prophet's declamatory sneer of a voice. His quicksilver fretwork still impresses - especially on the Television-like stomper Freckle Song, though the stand-out track is the burnished, redemptive ballad Would You Love Me, replete with a Methodist children's choir and a counterpoint melody that could melt the stoniest heart.” ~ Mojo ****
_________________________________________________________________________

Soap and Water was recorded in Nashville at the Alex the Great Recording Studios, with producer Brad Jones (Yo La Tengo, Dolly Parton, Josh Rouse) manning the desk. Chuck is joined by his own band The Mission Express, Todd Roper (of Cake) on drums, and The Spinto Band. Hell, they even drafted in the local Methodist children’s church choir for a few tunes. The album sees him blending his twisted soul-country-rock; a Alex Chilton-meets-Waylon Jennings via Dylan thing, with that Fender Telecaster he’s had since his Green On Red days weaving a singular common thread throughout. From the beautiful lyricism and arrangement of “Would You Love Me?”, the witty and wicked call-and-response of the title track, to the pure rock and roll ecstasy of “Let’s Do Something Wrong” featuring Chuck’s well-honed six-string abilities. “We goofed on some agitated single coil cubist junk, got serious with the spring reverb on mournful ballads” says Chuck.

It’s been three years since his last album, “Age of Miracles”, but Chuck Prophet is not a man to sit about. He revived the band that started that whole goddamn alt-country thing, Green on Red, for a recent spin around Europe. He produced and helped co-write Kelly Willis’ new album “Translated From Love”, and is currently collaborating with Alejandro Escovedo on his next album. Chuck has also made his debut on the silver screen, acting the part of the dope dealer in the new film “Revolution Summer” (with a fine soundtrack by Jonathan Richman) as well as contributing his own tracks to the Sundance Jury Award winning film “Teeth” about a woman with a toothed vagina. If that work doesn’t make you break out in a sweat, the thought of a toothed vagina should do the trick for the rest of you.

Chuck started it all as a kid back in the eighties when Green on Red plucked him out of Berkeley, CA and threw him in the van for an eight year ride and the recording of as many albums. Green on Red were seminal purveyors of American Roots-Rock and broke up in 1992 just before an entire movement followed in their wake. Since then Chuck has recorded seven amazing solo albums and toured and recorded with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann, Cake, Alejandro Escovedo, and Jonathan Richman. Ryan Adams, Solomon Burke and Heart have recorded his songs, along with a host of others. Chuck’s never been one to rest on his laurels and ride it out. He’s always manically chopped and changed; with his distinctive panache for a classic tune always in tow.

www.cookingvinyl.com / www.chuckprophet.com / www.coppertreerecords.com