NIXONLAND
Hey gang,
New single out today. Nixonland. More on that in a bit here.
First, I want to thank everyone who moseyed over to Bandcamp and bought the “Strings in the Temple” LP. Yep Roc actually got a call from Billboard later that week. They wanted the catalog numbers and niceties, as the record was in position to chart. It showed up in the charts, but what I’m really proud of is it came in at #9 in the classical charts. For real.
Meanwhile, don’t be a dumb ass like me.
We were closing out our second show of the night at the Continental Club in Austin. A double header. I’d essentially been yelling and jumping around that stage for close to four hours. I was more than a little slaphappy, adrenalin flowing free.
The band was vamping on a big fat E chord, the volume was swelling. And like hundreds of times before, I spit into the mic: “Good night. Take care. And if you can take care of someone else too!” There was much clapping of hands and stomping of feet. And as the band continued its crescendo, I leaned down into the front row, sweat dripping off, and started slapping high fives and making the not so secret handshake with anybody who reached out. One. After Another. Down the line.
That was like 2AM Saturday night. March 14th. The next day I caught a clip of that exact moment on Facebook. Me smiling like an idiot, glad-handing. I hung my head. I felt a little depressed. I could see the guys behind me laughing and Charlie Sexton grinning and wringing out a few last licks on the “Stephie-caster.” (Charlie was stunt doubling for Stephie who never made it to Austin. She’d been booked on a flight the previous morning out of LA, where she’d been looking after her mother who was recovering from a hip-replacement surgery. Then she decided that the last thing she wanted to do was bring home the invisible monster to her mom. Smart kid.)
Meanwhile, I was making up for everyone, right? Soaking up germs wherever I could find them. What, me worry? It’s like I assured Stephie earlier on the phone when she reminded me again to wash my hands and be careful: “Honey, we’re good. Charlie will be there. They wouldn’t let anything happen to Charlie, would they?”
The next day the City Fathers* shut the town down. (For extra credit, from “Tombstone Blues.”)
Well, I’m happy to say that after a month of quarantine, I’m feeling healthy. But honestly, I can’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like if I’d gotten sick or been an unknowing carrier and made other people sick. I’m completely convinced the karma gods would have run that Facebook clip of me on repeat like a meme or whatever. With the caption: “Don’t be an idiot. Don’t be like this guy. Chuck Prophet RIP.” THAT would have been my swan song.
The other day I spoke with my friend Daniel on the phone and he said, “Hey, my sister is in the New York Times. She’s a nurse and she just travelled from North Carolina to New York City. She volunteered to help at Mount Sinai in Queens. Right in the thick of it.” And I thought, that’s crazy. Why? And then it occurred to me. People are hardwired. That’s why. These caregivers are hardwired to give care and dumb asses like me are hardwired with the whole “show must go on” slogan we keep repeating like a mantra.
Why?
Why does the show have to go on? For the Gipper? Who the hell is the Gipper, anyway? Does anybody even know who the Gipper is? WHY DO WE KEEP SAYING THAT? What are we, robots?
Don’t answer that.
Meanwhile, my new record “The Land that Time forgot” was originally scheduled to be released May 15. Because of complications that release date has now been pushed back to August 21. And we just keep releasing singles one by one. And luckily it’s all killer/no filler so far (if I do say so myself). So, I don’t hear anyone complaining.
The latest single is called “Nixonland.” And it’s got a cool video by Yep Roc’s own Nathan Golub. The video’s a triumph. The process of drawing each frame is pretty damned labor-intensive. Made all the more impressive as Nathan was able to do this while still homeschooling his kids as they climbed on and around him like a jungle gym.
“Nixonland” is actually one of three presidential songs on “The Land that Time Forgot.” There’s also “Paying My Respects to the Train,” a song about Lincoln I wrote with Kim Richey. And you might recall we released the first single, “Get Off the Stage,” a couple months ago. Another presidential song that is, shall we say, a little more contemporary.
“Nixonland”? Based on a true story. Enough said. For now.
WATCH NIXONLAND HERE: https://tinyurl.com/y9gdaxuz
PRE-ORDER THE RECORD HERE: https://ffm.to/landtimeforgot
TUNE INTO MY TRIP IN THE COUNTRY RADIO SHOW ON THE GIMMECOUNTRY NETWORK:
Friday at 2pm PT / 4pm CT. Meet me in a hurry behind the barn! Join me and live chat on my radio show on the Gimme Country Network. If ya like 50s and 60s country, yodeling cowgirls, honky-tonkers, Georgia swampers, rockabilly cats and kittens, this is the place. You can listen and jump into the chat in real time here: https://www.gimmecountry.com/#/radio
Onwards,
-CP
P.S.: In terms of tour dates, we intend to make them happen, if the powers that be say it’s cool. Short of a crystal ball, we just don’t know. We can’t know. In the immortal words of Brandt in The Big Lebowski (you remember him, right? played by the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman): “Well Dude, we just don’t know.” God I wish Philip Seymour Hoffman was still around. I once stood under an awning in NYC in front of Joe’s Pub and took a smoke break. I felt someone sharing the space and turned and it was Philip Seymour Hoffman. He looked at me and I looked back, like “Yep.” Two dudes huddled in the rain enjoying a smoke break in silence. Who wants to watch “Moneyball” together? Let me know.
P.P.S.: klipschutz has new book of poems, “Premeditations.” (Here’s a review.) Pretend you’re browsing the shelves of a place where you just know you’ll find something mind blowing. Here, I’ll do it for you: http://hootnwaddle.com/premeditations/
P.P.P.S.: If you want to download the LP of the Strings in the Temple concert, it’s still available over at Bandcamp. Here is the Bandcamp Link https://found.ee/uO1W
*BTW, I just looked up “swan song” and I’m using it correctly. It’s a Greek metaphor according to Jimmy Wales.
