It’s happening, so don’t try to stop it!

Hello Friends,

Happy New Year. Some substantial seismic musical activity to report as we swing out of one year and into the next. Here’s a preview before I dig deeper—and go wide screen, too.

We have tour dates, including the Kennedy Center. Plus a Mountain Stage performance right here on the Left Coast. There’s also a Summertime Thing Festival in the works. Oh, and a new record in the making. (Knee deep in the Cumbia. That’s right, it’s happening, so don’t try to stop it!) Valentine’s (or Palentine’s) Day shows, too.

And as if that’s not enough, like they say on game shows (are there still game shows?), yours truly will be represented by some visual cut-and-pastes at a real live Art Exhibition. (No, that is not a typo.) In the Southland. The desert, to hone in further. Not so far from Coachella, actually.

All this and more. In no particular order, unless an order presents itself in spite of my stream-of-consciousness tendencies…

Let’s start completely out of my comfort zone, with the Art Exhibition. Some of you know I like to play around with scissors and glue. To make collages. Not because I’m great. Because I can’t help myself. It keeps me busy in my “writing room.”* When the guitar isn’t talking to me. And maybe it also forces me to look at things differently. As it turns out, it’s also a great way to keep my hands busy and let a mix just kind of roll over every inch of me. Anyway, I will be showing my collage art in a star-studded group show in the greater Palm Springs area. MAD.KAT Gallery in Rancho Mirage to be exact. March 16 to April 21. Out there by the Elephant Car Wash, or so I’m told. It all looks pretty formidable. Intimidating even. Joan Baez and Penelope Houston will be included. But that’s a couple months down the road. Still and all, I’d better get busy!

Meanwhile back in Gigsville USA: for those of you paying attention, I’ve been instructed to mention I have solo and duo shows in January. In Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. Including a duo show with Stephie at the Kennedy Center in DC. I’m looking forward to returning to the 30A Songwriters Festival. Personally, I love Florida. There’s a quality to the light. It’s kind of like California, but with Cuban sandwiches in lieu of tacos. I can’t wait to join a host of great sinner/songwriters at the 30A Fest, and of course, I’m always happy to see all my WMNF’ers in Tampa.

Not to be sneezed at, there’s also Mountain Stage, coming to Walnut Creek on February 1st. Looks like the The Mission Express and I will be part of the show they’ll be taping featuring Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Colin Hay and more, with host Kathy Mattea. We’ve been schlepping our bums to West Virginia for donkey’s years, as they say on the Angry Island. Nice of Mountain Stage to come to us for once. #AlmostHeaven

File Under Get-Your-Tickets-Now – this Valentine’s/Palentine’s Day, make it a date and come and celebrate with us at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco and HopMonk in Novato. Us being Chuck Prophet, Stephanie Finch, Vicente Rodriguez and The Make Out Quartet. (This is the string quartet we shot videos with during lockdown, in case you missed it.) Who knows, this might just become a tradition.

(Maybe there’s something to this whole Palentine’s Day thing? If you’re single and/or sick of the commercialization of Valentine’s Day, spend the day hanging out with your best friends. I mean, not everyone I know is lovey dovey. Those folks deserve a day, too.)

Breaking News: You heard it here first. The Summertime Thing Festival. Yessir, I’ll be curating a Music Festival in Guerneville, CA on Saturday, June 29. (We’re not quite ready to up and announce all the confirmed acts. But, many won’t be strangers to anyone who follows this newsletter.) OK, now this may not be the biggest festival out there. But if you like Chuck Prophet music, it just might be the best. (Who knows, you might want to show up in your best shirt.) Seriously, how long could I resist getting in on the Festival fun? We have some surprises in store for you. There’ll be legends. And pioneers. Next Generation weirdos, too. Plus a couple acts you’ve never heard of, I’m sure. But this is for realzzzz. So think about joining us among the towering redwoods, at the the Rio Nido Roadhouse in Guerneville, CA. You can sit inside or out. There will be two stages. Gonna be a cool hang. That much I know.

Get up to the minute details on live shows here. Proving that there’s more to life than Premium Netflix and Starbuck’s Oatmeal. Live in-the-flesh music.

Onwards,

-CP

P.S. If you want to get deeper into the real nitty-gritty with some more of my personal writing, you can follow me over at Substack.

P.P.S “Stand up for the stupid and crazy” –Walt Whitman

P.P.P.S NEW T SHIRTS! Old CD’s. Plus we’ve got 180 gram LPs. That’s a lot of grams. Try snorting that!

P.P.P.P.S Consider this: Brenda Lee recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” when she was 13. What have you done with your life?

*Yes, I have a writing room. Some days I call it an “office.” It’s actually an overpriced shoebox on Market Street sandwiched between the Loin and SOMA. Whatever it is, it’s the perfect place to go and shout at the walls and stomp on the floor. And get out the scissors and glue as the case may be.

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GIGSVILLE

SOLO

1/11 Skipper’s Smokehouse – Tampa, FL

1/12 to 1/14 30A Songwriters Festival – South Walton County, FL

W/STEPHANIE FINCH

1/16 Eddie’s Attic – Decatur, GA

1/17 The Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC

1/19 The Kennedy Center – Washington, DC

1/21 The Tin Pan – Richmond, VA

W/THE MAKE OUT QUARTET

2/14 Swedish American Hall – San Francisco, CA

2/16 Hopmonk Novato – Novato, CA

W/THE MISSION EXPRESS

2/1 Mountain Stage – Walnut Creek, CA

3/8 to 3/10 Continental Club – Austin, TX

3/12 McGonigel’s Mucky Duck – Houston, TX

3/16 Devils’s Backbone Tavern – Fischer, TX