"The Blues is a conduit for emotion, the way to tell the story, the way to share you happiness, joy and sadness with people."

Port City Prophets: Marshlands Blues

Out of the marshlands of the South Carolina Low-Country, come the Port City Prophets. A blues trio which embodies the honest, gritty way of life from which the music rises. They mix the best of the old with the edge of the new, and come up with a sound that is truly their own. Between them they bring almost 100 years of stage experience to each performance, and have a passion for every note, every night. The Prophets are receiving critical acclaim from across the country, so if you get a chance to see them, you won't soon forget it. The Prophets are: Troy Tolle - Guitar, Tim Kirkendall - Bass/Vocal and Henry Ancrum - Percussion.

A legend in the low-country of South Carolina, Troy has been delighting audiences for over 25 years. After many years of playing professionally in many local projects, Troy moved to Nashville where his sphere of influence was felt in a variety of touring opportunities. This is where he honed a guitar style reminiscent of a young Stevie Ray Vaughan. Wanting to return to his roots, Troy moved back to the low-country of South Carolina to form what is now Port City Prophets.

Originally from Saint Louis Missouri, Tim began his musical life as the oldest son in a family of musicians. After playing in projects ranging from classic jazz, funk, gospel and R&B, he took his toes out of the Mississippi mud and began to master his craft in a California classroom. Over the years, Roots and Blues legends like, Lightning, Muddy, and Buddy started to speak to his soul. After an extensive search and many years of different projects, Port City Prophets was the answer.

Henry is a Charleston South Carolina native. As a teen he began to play in gospel choirs as well as local nightclubs and quickly developed a reputation for perfection. Henry has shared his talents with numerous projects over the years and has played from the South Carolina capitol steps to the ever demanding Big Apple. His style embodies everything that's great about the Port City Prophets.

Interview by Michael Limnios

When was your first desire to become involved in the blues culture? What does the BLUES mean to you?

Tim: I had a girlfriend in high school, at the time I was in more of the rock scene; her daddy’s name was Paul Clark. He wanted me to sit with him one day and listen to some albums from his collection.  He sat me down and played some old Ray Charles cuts. What he was doing blew me away. It was almost like he was coming out of the speakers and slapping me in the face. It changed my life. From there I started listening to Muddy, Son House and some other greats, and the rest is history. To me the Blues is just honesty. It’s not trying to make a dollar, or be cool, it just honest.

Troy: As a teenager when I first heard SRV, it opened up a whole different sound; most importantly the emotion in the music drew me in like a magnet. To me is a conduit for emotion, the way to tell the story, the way to share you happiness, joy and sadness with people.

Henry: I just love the Blues, it tells the story of life.

"Charleston has such a direct connection with a dark history like slavery, that it could be considered the starting point of blues if you look at it from a hardships standpoint."

How did you choose the name and where did it start? How do you describe the music philosophy of Port City Prophets?

Tim: We kicked around a few names, but we wanted to give props to where we live. It’s known as the Port City. And prophets throughout history have either been loved or reviled, just for speaking the truth. The blues is truth. Our musical philosophy is that if you can feel it we like it. We each come to this project bringing something different. We put that together and something truly unique comes out. When we play live, we literally want to leave it all on stage. We don’t feel like we have done a good job unless we are exhausted, fans deserve that.

What’s the best jam you ever played in? What are some of the most memorable gigs you've had?

Tim: When I was 16 years old I played drums mostly. I got invited to fill in at an old school tent revival meeting in St. Louis. When I got there a local B3 legend named Kenny Pind was leading the music. It was unreal. We played for what seemed like hours while people danced and sang. It was everything you envision in your mind, hot, sweaty, and loud. We do a ton of improvisation and give each other a lot of space, so every gig to me is something really new and special. Every night we get done I always say, that’s the best one YET!!

Troy: The night that sticks out in my mind is the night I was invited up to play with John McKellvey - he is a guitar mentor of mine. It was at the Sand Dollar Social Club on Folly Beach, SC. I had watched him perform for more than 20 years, and had dreamed of being able to play with him, but I didn’t think I would ever get to the level of being able to sit in with him.

Henry: PCP played a gig a couple of years ago at “The Madam’s Organ Blues Bar” in Washington DC. It was lights out, just one of those nights.  We didn’t want to stop; they didn’t want us to stop.  A local saxophonist named Walter sat in. It was crazy.

"The blues is truth. Our musical philosophy is that if you can feel it we like it."

Which meetings have been the most important experiences for you? What is the best advice ever given you?

Tim: As far as PCP goes, meeting Troy Tolle was a biggie. We met each other trying out for a different band at the same time. We didn’t fit!! So we went our own way and met up later on to see if there was any magic. There was. The best advice ever taken was "For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!…” That’s found in the book of Luke.

Troy: Meeting Tim Kirkendall, it essentially brought PCP together.  The best advice I ever got was, wait 5 years after you get married to have kids, then move 500 miles away from your nearest relative.

Henry: Meeting Steve “the blues boss” Simon, was a big deal, he is the one who initially found us in a small Blues club in SC and turned us on to a few people. The best advice I get is, “keep doing it”, that’s good advice for me because I love doing it

From the musical point of view what are the differences between: South Carolina and other local scenes?

Tim: Musically  Charleston has a lot to offer. To many times though in any music scene you have to dig to find the jems. There are local bands that do well, but they aren’t the true jems of Charleston. You have to go to the Lowcountry Blues Club jams, really search out the talent. South Carolina is tough place. Lots of poverty, lots of tragic history that involves lots of death. I think it comes out in the people and then comes out in the music.

Troy: Charleston has such a direct connection with a dark history like slavery, that it could be considered the starting point of blues if you look at it from a hardships standpoint.

Henry: South Carolina is removed from the more traditional blues scenes, so getting love around the house sometimes ain’t easy.

"Blues is the blues; I don’t know where it’s going to end up. It tends to go in a circle, just like life."

What do you miss most nowadays from the blues of past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of blues?

Tim: It has been said that the blues is easy to play and hard to feel.  It seems like the music is getting more complex yet the emotion seems to be lacking. Some of it seems really contrived sometimes.  We don’t need new guitar heroes, we just need heroes. My hope is that the blues doesn’t get so commercial that it’s run by corporate money men. It happened to the punk scene in the 70’s, and could very easily happen again to blues. In many ways it already has.

Troy: I miss the organic nature of past blues. Everything now is so electric and so precise. My hopes are that the next generations will continue the love for this genre that we have for it. Hopefully they will continue to pay homage to the past, but keep it evolving. My fears are the opposite. My fear is that it will no longer be valued as an artform.

Henry: A lot of the old timers kept horn players around, now days you just don’t see it as much. Blues is the blues; I don’t know where it’s going to end up. It tends to go in a circle, just like life.

Are there any memories from Hunter Mountain with Buddy Guy, Elvin Bishop, Robert Cray, which you’d like to share with us?

Tim: Hunter Mountain was just crazy. Those guys are true professionals and top notch people on top of it. If you’ve read the history behind that gig is was literally interrupted by a hurricane.  Many people lost their homes and roads and bridges were washed away. It became so much more than just another festival. It became an experience that will live with us forever. Bluestock 2011 … we won’t ever forget it.

What are the lines that connect the legacy of Blues with Soul and continue to Roots and Gospel music?

Troy: The one thread that ties all these together is black gospel. It was FIRST. You can hear black gospel in all these genres.

Henry: A lot of it plays alike, just the message changes.

Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really wanna go for a whole day..?

Troy: I would want to spend a day with the mid 1950’s Ray Charles.  In my opinion it was the pinnacle of his music career. I would have loved to make a connection with him at that point and time.

Henry: I would go back when I was 15 again; I would play all night at what they called the “record hops” and not get tired. That was before “serious” music, when music was just music.

Port City Prophets - official website