There’s been artwork difficulties, problem test pressings, communication breakdown with the pressing plant (causing the majority of the delay), noisy finished copies….and then we started again from scratch!!

But it’s finally here! The first release of 2010 on Diverse Records is the latest album by Chuck Prophet. “Let Freedom Ring” is the ninth solo LP by the former Green On Red guitarist, who it would seem, has built up an incredibly loyal band of followers since going solo in 1990.

Prophet started his wild ride back in 1984, when Green on Red, the seminal purveyors of American Rock-Roots, plucked him out of Berkeley, CA and threw him in the van for an eight-year ride, and the recording of as many albums. Since then Prophet has recorded nine amazing solo albums and toured and recorded with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann, Cake, and Jonathan Richman, not to mention production credits for Warren Zevon, Alejandro Escovedo and Kelly Willis. Ryan Adams, Solomon Burke and Heart have recorded his songs, along with a host of others. Prophet has never been one to rest on his laurels and ride it out. For his ninth solo album “Let Freedom Ring”, Chuck reached out to some musicians and talked them into going down to Mexico City, The Biggest City in the World (pop. 25 million). Recorded at Estudio 19, a state-of-the-art studio (well, circa 1958 state-of-the-art anyway) with Greg Leisz (Beck, Wilco, Emmylou Harris) co-producing. Within three days of arriving swine flu broke out and the indignity of having to wear blue surgical masks just to fit in.

Over the course of the next eight days, the band set about recording ¡Let Freedom Ring!, enduring a poorly timed blackout, shakedowns by the Policia, and a 6.4 earthquake mid-take – Mexico City might only be 4 hours away by plane but it might as well have been on the other side of the moon. But whilst mayhem ensued, the band buckled down to the task in hand, all set up together in a tight little bamboo lined room with the amps cranked. Chuck played his Fender Squire, Kelly Stoltz on backing vocals, Rusty Miller (Jason Lyte’s band) played bass while Drummer Ernest “Boom” Carter turned his sticks into kindling. Carter played on Springsteen’s “Born To Run” – he promptly quit the E Street Band after they spent 6 months recording it. The results can be heard from the Clash inspired opener to the power pop of ‘Let Freedom Ring’ and the Eddie Cochran infused ‘Good Time Crowd’.

“Let Freedom Ring” was mastered at Abbey Road studios from the original 24bit master files. Since this album is a big sounding blues rock album, we opted to use DMM mastering for the first time in the label’s history, resulting in a bright, crisp and more immediate response across all frequencies. The bass is clearly defined and the imaging of Chuck’s Jagger-esque swagger is phenomenal! I know this has been said before, but it’s like he’s in the room, singing slap bang between the speakers.

Chuck Prophet : Let Freedom Ring
After many setbacks with this release, we’re nearly there. test pressings have now been approved and we’re expecting the album in stock within the next fortnight.

Joan Baez : Gone From Danger
Slightly delayed but now not far away. We’ve had a few issues to sort out with artwork but it’s now all finished and we’ll hopefully have the album in stock around the same time as the Chuck Prophet LP.

Simone Felice : Live From A Lonely Place
A bit of a short notice release but all is going to plan and the test pressings sound amazing. Should be ready for Simone’s gig in Cardiff on 19th August.

Eleanor McEvoy : I’d Rather Go Blonde
This has been pencilled in for a while but has now been mastered and cut. We’re working on the artwork and awaiting test pressings. Scheduled for release at the end of September.

Cowboy Junkies : Renmin Park
We’ve just put pen to paper on this one and are very excited. We’re going to get going on this straight away with an eye on a release date around the beginning of October.

This should be enough for you all to be going on with but there are more in the pipeline and I’ve post news items as soon as I have anything to confirm.

Tickets will be on sale soon. If you’re interested in coming, email matt@diverserecords.com

She learned to draw from those sources who could heighten her artistry, and to introduce her audiences to music and musicians who appealed to her, and whom she felt assured would appeal to those audiences as well. Volumes have been written about how Joan championed a virtually unknown Bob Dylan in 1963 (the year that Joan famously had five albums simultaneously on the Billboard chart) and ’64. Her concert audiences encountered him onstage with her, and her records underscored the fevered rush of songs that were pouring out of him in those years.

Joan used her platform to expose other contemporaries: the songs of Phil Ochs, Richard Fariña, Leonard Cohen and Tim Hardin, informed her repertoire. As she made her way to Nashville later on in the ’60s, she opened up her songbook to the work of Johnny Cash, Mickey Newbury, and Kris Kristofferson. Through Joan, many folk music listeners had their first taste of South American composers Nascimento, Bonfa, and Villa-Lobos. In her first decade as a working singer and musician, Joan had opened the door for some of the most important composers of her generation. Decades later, by virtue of her seniority, Joan – like Duke Ellington, to extend the metaphor – had become the mentor to a new younger generation of singer-songwriters. They are the specially hyphenated breed of folk and country singers and songwriters in the U.S. and abroad for whom Joan is an icon. This is a mantle she wears uncomfortably yet accepts nonetheless, and has even come around to relish since the ’90s, a landmark decade for her

Gone From Danger is a reminder of the complex musical roads that Joan Baez has traveled these past two decades or so, and the marvelously talented artists that she has mentored along the way, who have travelled on her “bus” and then driven off to find their own pathways.

Diverse Records are thrilled to be bringing Chuck Prophet to Wales for the first time in about a billion years. His album ‘Let Freedom Ring’ is being released on vinyl by Diverse in May (hopefully in time for the gig, there’s been a couple of delays), it was described by New York’s Village Voice as “Born in the USA for our times.”. We thought it was only fair that we promoted this show too as he’s as thrilling on stage as he is on record. He’s an amazingly entertaining performer and with his band, The Mission Express, produces bluesy, country, Tom Petty like music with balls. That’s right, balls.

Prophet first attracted attention in March 1983 on joining Los Angeles band Green On Red. His exciting, highly skilled, technique added a new dimension to this already excellent group, although critics initially dubbed his work derivative of Neil Young. Successive releases by the group established Prophet as one of the era’s finest musicians, whose skills were enhanced through jams with the cream of San Francisco’s rock fraternity. In 1990 the artist released Brother Aldo, a largely country rock selection. This superior set featured several vocal duets with Prophet’s partner Stephanie Finch and included support from R&B pianist Spooner Oldham and Durocs’ drummer Scott Matthews. Prophet’s guitar work was, however, also prominent, particularly on “Scarecrow”, the album’s most intense offering. Following Green On Red’s demise in 1992, Prophet was able to concentrate on his solo career, establishing himself as one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of the 90s. He has collaborated with several legendary songwriters, including Jim Dickinson, Billy Swan and Bob Neuwirth. In 1997, Prophet delivered Homemade Blood, a live studio set that contains several of his finest songs to date. He made an excellent contribution to Kelly Willis’ 1998 album What I Deserve.

Support on the night comes from Gallowbirds who plough a similar rootsy rock furrow to Chuck. Tickets are £12 and are available from Diverse Music, Spillers and here.

The good news is that there is a number etched into the run out groove of the album.  This is your password.  Enter this at www.diverserecords.co.uk/secret and you’ll have access to a free download of Chuck covering Waylon Jennings’ album ‘Dreaming My Dreams’.  It’s out on CD soon but you can download either MP3 or hi-res WAV files from our site.

It’s a little thank you to you for continuing to support Diverse Records and we’d like to thank Chuck and Decor Records for allowing us to give it to you.

Chuck has also confirmed a tour of the UK in May and we’ll be putting on the Cardiff date in Clwb Ifor Bach on Sunday 9th May.  Support is to be confirmed.  Tickets are £12 and available from Diverse Music, Spillers Records and www.clwb.net

The gig is on Monday 1st March, upstairs in Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach venue. Support comes from one of our favourite bands, The Redlands Palomino Company and another old friend, Peter Bruntnell. Tickets are priced at £12 in advance and are available over the counter in both Diverse Music and Spillers Records and online at www.clwb.net