Charles Jenkins on the memories behind his new album and the vision for Dr. Chuck Supper Club
He grew up in the backseat of his mother’s Blue Chevette, soaking in Earth, Wind & Fire, Carole King and everything in between. Decades later, that same backseat has become the inspiration for one of the most soulful and unexpected albums of his career. Grammy-winning artist, pastor and entrepreneur Charles Jenkins is stepping into new creative territory with The Blue Chevette, a family-friendly project rooted in nostalgia, storytelling and pure joy. And if the music alone is not enough, he is also building a whole experience around it with Dr. Chuck Supper Club, a live music dining concept designed to give people a space to celebrate life the right way.
The new album is titled The Blue Chevette. What inspired the title and why was the Chevette the perfect symbol for this project?
I grew up riding in the backseat of my mother’s Blue Chevette. I’m a 70s baby. And so, in my hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, we didn’t have gospel radio every day. It played on Sundays. And so, as a little kid, my first exposure to music was riding in the backseat of my mama’s blue. There was R&B, known as urban pop at that time, also. And then there was soft rock, also known as yacht rock. So I grew up listening to Earth, Wind and Fire, Kool and The Gang, the Gap Band, Stevie James Ingram, Stephanie Glattis, and all of the legends. But simultaneously, I grew up listening to yacht rock. So it was James Taylor and Carole King and the Doobie Brothers and Chicago and Hall and Oates, and Simon and Garfunkel and on and on and on.
I’ve been licensing music to brands, TV and film for the last seven years and music supervisors and industry executives have been asking me for clean, family-friendly music to license to brands, TV and film. So God took me back to the Blue Chevette and I’m excited to take the music that I’ve been sharing behind the scenes with executives and music supervisors. I’ve licensed music to almost every major TV network, every major cable network, lots of movie studios. And so I’m bringing it to the people and so it’s family reunion music, it’s wedding reception music, it’s dance around your house, roll the windows down in your car, get ready for work music. So I’m excited to stay in the good news lane while at the same time we give it a different kind of vibe.
When listeners press play on this album, what emotions, memories, or experiences are you hoping for them to connect with?
The thing about the music that I grew up on, it was a combination of story and melody. And so it’s feel good. It’s conversational. It’s storytelling. It’s narrative simultaneously while I’m telling stories. It’s lyrical and we’re matching up the words and simultaneously it’s prose. It’s metaphor and then at the same time, from the slow vibes, it leads you to a place where you want to sing out loud and think about the person you love the most, you appreciate the most, while simultaneously I want you dancing. I want you moving and grooving. And hopefully when you press play, man, you feel up and you go forward.
Every album has that one song that feels especially personal. Which track on The Blue Chevette means the most to you and why?
It’s so many songs on it that just take me to different places. I think my favorite song on the record, and this is hard to say because I have several favorites. One of One is probably my favorite song. Out of all of the songs, the record is classic R&B with a few yacht rock songs. But One of One is a yacht rock record and it leads me to think of people like my wife and my mom and my brother and many of my friends. They’re one of one. It’s nobody like them.
When you listen to the lyrics, you’re the only one, what you think matters. You’re the only one who can whisper in my ear. You can’t let everybody talk to you. You’re the only one who really sees me. You’re the only one who loves me to my core. You’re the only one that would never leave me. Like when you think about life, man, people will change quicker than the leaves on the trees. People will be with you on Monday, against you on Tuesday, neutral on Wednesday. But when you think about life, the older I get, I have a greater appreciation for consistency, for riders. So the One of One record is probably my favorite record when I think about the album.
What was the original vision behind creating Dr. Chuck Supper Club?
Dr. Chuck Supper Club is dinner, dancing, and a show. It’s a celebration of love, light, and life. And my vision behind it was where can you go if you want to have a fantastic dinner, live music, maybe a live show, and then at the end of the night, a DJ takes the stage and with your family, your friends, your love, you can get up and do your little two-step and enjoy yourself.
My wife loves to dance and my kids who are adults now love to dance and I just felt like it was an opportunity and a gap in culture. No riff raff. Put on your good stuff and there are many people that are celebrating things and where do you go and everything is set for you already. Dinner is prepared. The band is curated. The DJ’s got the playlist. All you got to do is pull up, show up, and show out. And we got everything in place for you. So the idea was feel good, family-friendly, joy. Whether you’re celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation, a promotion, a boo day, a you day, date night, girls night, fellas night. I’m excited that it kicks off in Chicago and we going around the country.
Where can people hear the new album and where can they experience Dr. Chuck Supper Club?
The new album, The Blue Chevette, is everywhere you listen to music. Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube. We got videos on YouTube. And then also Dr. Chuck Supper Club is coming to a city near you. Kevin Johnson who owns Fixings in Detroit, Phoenix, Sacramento, LA has invited me to bring the Supper Club to all of his restaurants. Friends in Atlanta looking for venues. Friends in New York, friends in Philly, friends in Houston. And I want you to look for a venue, too. It’s dinner, dancing and the show and we’re gonna lift you sky high the natural way.