A musician finds a new lease on life through cross-cultural collaboration.

“Music has never let me down,” says veteran San Francisco singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet, who notes that he and his wife met while playing music together. He’s excited about his new album, Wake The Dead, recorded with the Salinas-based Cumbia band ¿Qiensave?. Together, they perform at Folktale Winery on Aug. 21.

The title is double-edged: Prophet came through a life-threatening diagnosis of Stage 4 lymphoma (and a couple of bouts with Covid). He did so with help from Latin rhythms that provided fresh inspiration. “During the pandemic, I did a radio show from my apartment and got into Cumbian music,’’ Prophet adds. “There’s also a lot of psychedelic Cumbia music, young bands coming out of Mexico and Texas.”

He first heard ¿Qiensave? when they were doing a soundcheck in his Mission District neighborhood.

“My manager said, ‘You’ve got to hear these guys,’” he recalls. “I listened to them play, and it was glorious. So I asked if they wanted to jam sometime and they said, ‘Sure – come on down. A lot of us live in this big house in the farming community where we can play as loud as we want.’”

A standout track, “Sally Was A Cop,” co-written with Alejandro Escovedo, addresses the damage done by Mexican narco cartels with dark humor. “The socialites and psychopaths are dancing with each other/from the crooked politicians to the mercenary lovers.”

Prophet, who took on Donald Trump in an earlier song, “Get Off The Stage,” has some choice words for Elon Musk in a new tune, “In The Shadow (for Elon).”

“These tech guys – Peter Thiel, Elon – have got some growing up to do,” he muses. “[Musk] should be required to take ballroom dancing lessons.”

The last cut, “Good To Be Alive,” celebrates his recovery in plainspoken verse. “I love the mundane, like [poet] Miller Williams, Lucinda’s father,” Prophet says. “Can’t wait for Kamala and Tim Walz to move into the White House. I wonder who they’ll name Poet Laureate?’’

Gigging with ¿Qiensave? adds a secret sauce to Prophet’s already eclectic repertoire. “The sound is a little more working-class,” he says. “It’s not meant for people sitting in their rooms.”

Chuck Prophet and ¿Qiensave? 6pm Wednesday, Aug. 21. Folktale Winery, 8940 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley. $50. 293-7500, folktalewinery.com.