Chuck Prophet

Lately, former Green on Red guitar hero Chuck Prophet has been getting as many props for his producing talents as his own music. That's both good and bad. Prophet, lately working on a new album with Alejandro Escovedo, produced Kelly Willis's Translated from Love, a departure for her that made numerous 2007 best-of lists. Prophet's own very smart Soap and Water, meanwhile, received much less ballyhoo from the press — a real shame, because for my money Prophet continues to make some of the smartest, relentlessly thoughtful and aggressive music on the scene. It only takes one look at the amateur YouTube video of his recent performance at the Americana Music Association convention in Nashville to realize few compare to Prophet or his crack band when it comes to live energy and revitalization of the rock idiom.