Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun

Wednesday, July 14, 1999
12:00 am
Location: Elderly Instruments
in-store performance (free)

Legendary "Titan of the Telecaster," Bill Kirchen, and his band Too Much Fun will play a free, in-store performance at Elderly Instruments (1100 North Washington, Lansing) at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 14. Fans of rockabilly, country, Western swing, honky tonk and truck-driving music will not want to miss this show! Over the course of a musical career that spans 30-plus years, Kirchen has had the good fortune to be associated with some classic songs ("Hot Rod Lincoln") and some pretty impressive sidekicks (Nick Lowe, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Commander Cody, Danny Gatton, et al.), yet the bespectacled, mild-mannered six-stringer has always managed to more than hold his own in such heady company. Perhaps best-known for his barn-burning live guitar pyrotechnics, the impressive range of his playing and performing the gamut of the roots-rock spectrum has often been overlooked in the studio environment. That is, until the release of his latest album, "Raise A Ruckus," which perfectly demonstrates Kirchen's knowledge and appreciation of rockabilly, western swing, swamp blues, country, soul and - of course- truck driving music. Quite simply, "Raise A Ruckus" is a high-water mark in a succession of high tides Kirchen has ridden ever since he first picked up a guitar. Against the backdrop of the political and social consciousness of the mid-to-late 1960's, Kirchen was based in one of the hotbeds of the movement: Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was also an exciting and heady time musically, as styles were blended and bended into what would become the anthem for the new generation. Into this climate in 1967, Kirchen helped form the perfect band for the times: Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, who played a collection of rock 'n' roll, hard-core country, boogie and rockabilly sounds produced in a high-octane mix that propelled them into the stratosphere of happening groups, especially when they re-located to the San Francisco Bay area in 1968. During the course of the band's lifetime (1967-1976), Kirchen played and sang on 10 Commander Cody albums, including their Top Ten single, "Hot Rod Lincoln," in 1972, which was powered by his twangy Telecaster (which he still plays!). The next 10 years included some Cody tours, as well as the formation of The Moonlighters, who went on to record two albums. One of these was produced by Nick Lowe, who introduced Kirchen to a bunch of his English mates, such as Elvis Costello, who also utilized Bill's tasty tones. Nick Lowe employed Kirchen on his Party of One (1991) and The Impossible Bird (1994) albums and then hired him to tour with Nick Lowe and his Impossible Birds in 1995. Having moved to the Washington, DC, area in 1986, Kirchen also formed his own band early on, Too Much Fun, which features bassist Johnny Castle and drummer Jack O'Dell. They quickly became local favorites, winning 10 Washington Area Music Awards (Wammies) in 1996, including Musician and Songwriter of the Year. That same year, he also guested on Rig Rock Deluxe, a salute to truck driving songs, which hit the number one mark on the Gavin Americana chart. Kirchen had earlier made his first solo album debut on Black Top Records, with "Tombstone Every Mile" (1994) and "Have Love Will Travel" (1996). Kirchen's debut for HighTone Records came in September, 1997, with the release of "Hot Rod Lincoln Live!," a sonic assault of rockabilly, honky-tonk, blues and hillbilly boogie, highlighted by the title track, an incredible eight-minute tour-de-force of his guitar "impressions" of such guitarslingers as Jimi Hendrix, Link Wray, Duane Eddy, Merle Travis, the Kings (Albert, B.B. and Freddy), Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bo Diddley and many others. Recorded in front of some very enthusiastic audiences at Maryland's Globe Theater, "Hot Rod Lincoln Live!" further cemented his reputation as one of the premier roots-rock guitarists of the day. "Seldom has traveling across the rock and country landscape been this much fun," said The Washington Post. "(Bill) cuts loose with some of the fattest, gnarliest low-down twang imaginable," hailed Guitar Player. On the heels of its release, the live album generated five more Wammie Awards for the band in 1998, including nods to Bill as Musician, Artist and Instrumentalist of the Year. On his new album, "Raise A Ruckus," Kirchen teams up with good friend (and knock-out keyboard player) Austin de Lone as producer. de Lone's credits as a musician include work with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, as well as with Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe. Recorded at Cherry Ridge Studio near San Antonio, the new album taps into the wellspring of influences which permeate that part of Texas: western swing, Louisiana swamp blues, honky-tonk, soul, Tex-Mex and rock 'n' roll. To achieve that sound, he's augmented the band with such guests as Grammy-winning accordion maestro Flaco Jimenez, fiddler Bobby Flores of Ray Price's band and the San Antonio Horns, best-known for their work with Doug Sahm. And Bill Kirchen matches the songs with guitar sounds that showcase not only his mastery of the instrument, but imbue them with a feel and nuance that complements every one.

Check out recordings we carry featuring Bill Kirchen