Chuck Prophet, King Khan & the BBQ Show, Rachael Yamagata, Themselves

CHUCK PROPHET
Chuck Prophet is back to tell us about our blues. The monumentally talented singer/songwriter/musician is on tour to promote his latest solo album, ¡Let Freedom Ring!, a celebration of all things American: the stock market crash, struggling immigrants, and overarching anxiety. His songs are best known sung out of the mouths of Alejandro Escovedo and Warren Zevon, but Prophet’s charmingly scratchy voice and recognizable themes make listening to him a very welcoming experience. ¡Let Freedom Ring!, recorded in Mexico City amidst explosive drug wars and a swine flu epidemic, is no less welcoming. The sounds of original Americana — electric guitar, bass and drums — create soulful harmony set to the stringent lessons that Prophet hopes to teach us in his latest effort. Interestingly, although his message is largely a sad one, you can’t help but feel a patriotic hope when you listen to Prophet’s version of things. Maybe we could all use a lesson from him. (Appearing at Schubas on December 3) –text: Diana Novak

KING KHAN & THE BBQ SHOW
Does it really come as that big of a surprise that King Khan & BBQ had hallucinogenic drugs in their van? Is it all that shocking that the boundary-pushing, garage rock madmen who parade around stage in elaborate and oft-revealing costumes might associate with people who dig the proverbial trip? Those suspicions became fact on Nov. 16, when the explosive duo’s tour manager, Kristen Klein, plead guilty to second degree possession of a controlled substance charges during a stint in a Kentucky courthouse. The plea came after her arrest that caused King Khan and his longtime partner Mark Sultan (a.k.a. BBQ) to miss a pair of Midwest shows. But the mishap didn’t cost Klein her spot on the pair’s payroll, and the post-arrest tour has kept on rolling since the mid-November fiasco. King Khan and Sultan still blaze through their set in bizarre outfits with retro abandon, but now they just drive a little slower after the gig. (Appearing with Those Darlings at Logan Square Auditorium on December 2) –text: Derek Wright

RACHAEL YAMAGATA
Rachael Yamagata is a Chicago original. The former lead singer of Chicago-based Bumpus, Yamagata has carefully crafted another solo album for our contemplation, the two-part Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart. She returns to her favorite subject, heartbreak, but this time with a little more hope for redemption. Elephants retains the sadness and fragility that Yamagata has chosen for her solo projects, an exploration of a series of breakups that left some serious damage. It is in the second part, Teeth Sinking Into Heart, that we see a new side of Yamagata: a woman with a plan. She uses the last section of songs from the record to showcase a strength that can only come from a real familiarity with pain. Her earnestness and the open-diary style of her lyrics makes her music extremely relatable. Just make sure it’s not too relatable, though, and remember that the pain is hers — not yours. (Appearing with The Swell Season at the Auditorium Theatre on December 3) –text: Diana Novak

THEMSELVES
Anticon Records’ premier rap duo Themselves primed fans earlier this year with theFREEhoudini mixtape and several teaser videos posted around the internet along with the mantra, “Guess Who’s Back?” Now Doseone and Jel have officially leapt back onto the scene with CrownsDown, their much anticipated third LP that is said to be “a careful and vicious exhibition of mastered rap tactics and sampling ethics.” Though Crowns still rings with the unique and, at times, manic style Themselves are known for, the overall sound is skillfully streamlined and decidedly more inspired by rap acts of old like Gang Starr, Ultramagnetic MCs and Public Enemy. The album also stands as the frontrunner in a resurgence of rap records for the Anticon label after a string of more indie rock/folk-inspired ventures. This month Themselves will share the bill with Rhymesayers duo Eyedea & Abilities in what will surely be a night of leftfield hip-hop to remember. (Appearing with Eyedea & Abilities at Reggie’s Rock Club on December 2) –text: Mike Scales–photo: Matthew Scott

King Khan & The BBQ Show

For me, music is my religion. Music is much more motivating than reading the Bible or the Koran. If you look at Sun Ra or James Brown and the rest of these motivators who created their own reality out of their imagination, they shared their whole vision and dream with the world…Why not play music and die in your own beautiful kingdom that you’ve created instead of playing the stupid games that most people play?

story by Jon Graef
photo by Natasha Papadopoulou

In speaking with King Khan, one-half of the bombastic rock-soul fusion duo King Khan and The BBQ Show (Khan’s collaborative equal in the group is Mark Sultan, a.k.a. BBQ), the words that come up most frequently are “chaos”, “magical” and “to be honest…” Simply put Khan, known for his raucous live shows that add James Brown’s soul to Khan’s own uniquely weird and gritty romp, emphatically believes that people are at their best when totally free from societal constraints.

“I think that chaos is a magical way of living, if you can maintain some sort of balance…” says Khan, speaking to Chicago Innerview from California and explaining the importance of living life as freely as possible while still being responsible for the well-being of loved ones. Later on, Khan explains that while “things are going well career-wise…it doesn’t really mean anything. It’s like a baseball player, you have a good season and a bad season. All I can do is avoid sending out my psychic daggers to too many locations…”

Now normally, writers attempt to craft some semblance of a portrait of an artist and their work by parsing the particular details surrounding their newest creative output. King Khan and The BBQ Show is no exception. Their last album, The King Khan and BBQ Show, was re-released by garage-rock label In The Red Records last year. Another Khan compilation, The Supreme Genius of King Khan, which is for his other band, King Khan and The Shrines, was released last year as well. It seems that after floundering in relative obscurity, Khan is poised to break out of the underground.

But success, while welcome, is not the most important part of music for King Khan — the nom de rock of this intriguing man named Arish Khan. “To be honest, [making music] may look easy but I work my ass off to support my family,” Khan explains. “It’s really easy to complain and sulk in your own self-pity. But I feel very privileged to live the life that I do, with my family [Khan has a wife and two small daughters] on the road.”

No matter what subject comes up, whether it’s his upbringing in Montreal (“a great place to grow up and to be a juvenile delinquent”), to his musical evolution in Europe (“When I went to Germany, I wanted to bring American black soul music to Europe…I wanted to do it in a way that mixed together everything I love. I missed the feeling of being in America”) to living on welfare in Europe (“I’m very proud and happy to have lived on welfare. It gave me time to find my voice”) to latter-day Metallica albums (“Bob Rock is the most embarrassing Canadian”), Khan talks about life in a way that’s as earnest, direct, hilarious, and heartfelt as his music.

In a way, Khan could be considered an evangelist, except that in his case salvation is more likely to be attained through “the simplicity of the international language of rock and roll.” But, unlike most people who might be self-righteous about such things, Khan has a sense of humor about himself and his live show. “You have to have it be sensational and completely insane,” he says, but also “tongue-in-cheek and funny, otherwise you turn into a fanatic, fascist asshole.”

Further extending the metaphor, Khan explains that “for me, music is my religion. Music is much more motivating than reading the Bible or the Koran. If you look at Sun Ra or James Brown and the rest of these motivators who created their own reality out of their imagination, they shared their whole vision and dream with the world…Why not play music and die in your own beautiful kingdom that you’ve created instead of playing the stupid games that most people play?”

King Khan & the BBQ Show :: Bottom Lounge :: October 31.