—————————— CUT ALONG DOTTED LINE——————————
Hello Folks,
New overseas dates. UK, Serbia, Austria, Spain, Croatia, Sweden, Norway. . . but not in that order. Scroll down for the beef.
We just wound down the US leg of our Return of the Night Surfer US Spring tour. And here I am driving the van solo back from the Old Settlers Festival in Austin with all the gear, after dropping the rest of the band at the airport like a combination roadie/tour manager/container driver. I should be home in time to hit the water once or twice, then it’s off for the European leg. (Two legs, right?) Let the band have their iPad in-flight movies. And styrofoam coffee and prepackaged 100 calorie cookies. Enjoy! On the plus, there’s a certain meditation that comes with a long drive, kind of like going to a spa, except nothing like it at all. One thing for sure, there’s lots of time to ramp down the internal hard drive and do some real thinking.
Or maybe just have a good cry.
Sometimes it’s just you. No conversation. No air conditioning. Out of cell range. Talk radio fading in and out. A chance to process. Rehydrate the brain cells. Let scabs heal. Gain perspective. Look for meaning.
Okay, that was one too many.
Still, I have made big decisions behind the wheel, and gotten answers to question that had been puzzling me. Or at least started asking the questions. There was that time (2002? 2003?) where I chain-smoked for 2,000 miles and quit cold Yoko when I walked in the door.
The closer I got to home I kept thinking, How long can I keep this up? Maybe when I get back, I’ll look for that box of nicotine patches. Is it still in the back of my sock drawer? Expiration dates are just a suggestion, right?
It’s possible that I OD’d on that trip. There was no one around to slow me down. I woke up in that Travel Lodge with snow on the screen at 4 AM and thought, I could light one up and no one would know. But, as Blake tole me, “You’ll know, Ceep, you’ll know”.
So yeah, I quit. Even though I was still patting down my chest pocket for months to feel the hard pack that wasn’t here. Eventually the urge lifted. A cigarette was the best friend I ever had, but in the end you can only walk around an airport in a constant state of withdrawal so long. Or as James so astutely pointed out, “Smokers are bitches.” Which is really more wisdom than I could ever hope to achieve on the subject.
When I think of all the money I’ve saved, I start to think about buying a watch. And eating more arugula. Or just saying “arugula” more often. Maybe one of those big hunky chrome deals. The kind men sport just standing around posing in Maxim.
Long drives. There’s a Zen-like trance you sink into. People sure say “Zen” alot. I wonder if like me, they’re not 100% sure they’re using the word correctly? I mean, is the trance that I fall into wandering the aisles at truck stops looking at electronic gizmos in shrink-wrapped plastic Zen-like? Or picking out the least spotted and browned banana in the basket at the counter trying to put off getting back in the van? Damn. Now I’m sure I’m using the word wrong!
Then again, there IS a kind of spell you fall under. The first 45 minutes seems like forever. Then you look up and the sun is going down.
Plus it’s always helpful to get out of the Money Belt. Ride around some of the other belts. You know the ones. You see towns that are dying, with new outlet malls with Adidas logos on the side you’ve never seen before. And when you get as far as New Mexico you can find a proper Chile Relleno. Not quite the “fried eggs and country ham” Neil sang about in “Albuquerque”(spell-check THAT!) but waaaayyyy better. I put the Neil quote in here for Scott McCaughey. Scott, are you listening? Which reminds me. We had a great time in Florida with The Baseball Project. Did a couple honest to goodness pop-up gigs on the way back up. Saw friends in Nashville. Chile Relleno, here I come.
Onwards,
-CP
* MERCHVILLE: “FLASH SALE” http://www.theconnextion.com/chuckprophet/chuckprophet_index.cfm
The merch shop is having a sale! Starting now and for one week only, select catalog CD’s are only $10 and vintage tshirts are just $8. We have limited stock on some shirt designs, and these shirts will be discontinued once the sale is over, so get them now!
http://theconnextion.com/chuckprophet/chuckprophet_index.cfm
/ The Mission Express:
Stephie Finch: (singing, organ, guitar)
Kevin White: (bass guitar)
Vicente Rodruquez: (drums, singing),
James DePrato: (guitars)
Chuck Prophet Europe May to June 2015
HOLLAND
SAT MAY 2 RHYTHM AND BLUES FESTIVAL – GRONINGEN, NL Chuck Prophet solo
SUN MAY 3 HERE COMES THE SUMMER FESTIVAL – VLIELAND, NL, Chuck Prophet solo
SWEDEN
TUES MAY 5 KOM CAFE – GOTEBORG, SE Chuck Prophet solo
WED MAY 6 MONO - OSLO, NO Chuck Prophet solo
THUR MAY 7 NALEN/STACKEN - STOCKHOLM, SE Chuck Prophet solo
FRI MAY 8 GRAND - FALKENBERG,SE Chuck Prophet solo
DENMARK
SAT MAY 9 MUSIC HALL - WORSPWEDE, DE Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
SUN MAY 10 FRANNZ CLUB - BERLIN, DE Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
TUES MAY 12 BETT – FRANKFURT, DE Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
CZECH
WED MAY 13 PALAC AKROPOLIS - PRAGUE,CZ Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
THURS MAY 14 CHELSEA – VIENNA, AT Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
SERBIA
FRI MAY 15 DOM OMLADINE BEOGRADA - BELGRADE Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
CROATIA
SAT MAY 16 KSET – ZAGREB Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
GERMANY
MON MAY 18 KUNSTKULTURQUARTIER -NURENBERG, DE Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
TUES MAY 19 MILLA - MUNICHEN, DE Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
SPAIN
THURS MAY 21 MARULA - BARCELONA, ES Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
FRI MAY 22 LAS ARMAS - ZARAGOZA, ES Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
SAT MAY 23 SUPER 8 – FERROL,ES Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
SUN MAY 24 LAS IGUNA - VIGO, ES Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
MON MAY 25 EL SOL - MADRID, ES Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
UK
WED MAY 27 THE TUNNELS – BRISTOL, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
THURS MAY 28 THE GARAGE – LONDON, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
FRI MAY 29 THE ART BAR – OXFORD, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
SAT MAY 30 THE MET – BURY, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
SUN MAY 31 THE GLEE CLUB – NOTTINGHAM, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
MON JUNE 1 GREYSTONES – SHEFFIELD, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
TUES JUNE 2 BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB – LEEDS, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
WED JUNE 3 VOODOO ROOMS – EDINBURGH, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
THUR JUNE 4 THE CLUNY – NEWCASTLE,UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
FRI JUNE 5 THE JOINERS – SOUTHAMPTON, UK Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
HOLLAND
SAT JUNE 6 BITTERZOET - AMSTERDAM,NL - Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
USA
THURS JUL 30 SUMMER NIGHTS CONCERT SERIES - WINDSOR, CA - Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
SOLO US DATES:
FRI OCT 9 DARYL’S HOUSE - PAWLING, NY -Chuck Prophet solo
SAT OCT 10 THE PARLOR ROOM - NORTHAMPTON, MA - Chuck Prophet solo
SUN OCT 11 CLUB PASSIM - CAMBRIDGE, MA - Chuck Prophet solo
THURS OCT 15 TIN ANGEL - PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106-2802 - Chuck Prophet solo
FRI OCT 16 NORTH SHORE POINT HOUSE CONCERTS - NORFOLK, VA 23505
Chuck Prophet solo
SAT OCT 17 PRIVATE - WASHINGTON, DC - Chuck Prophet solo
