Bill Kirchen’s career as a guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter has gone through many stages since the ’60s. For a while, he lived in the DMV, playing regularly at the Sunset Grill, so there were plenty of old friends at his sold-out show at Jammin’ Java on Saturday, where he played old-school honky-tonk, cosmic country anthems, and some inspired Dylan covers.
It was particularly fitting that Bill payed tribute to his former home with “Streets of Baltimore,” a song most famously covered by alt-country godfather Gram Parsons. The outfit Kirchen first gained notice with, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, were another early influence on that scene; Bill kicked things off with one of their songs, “Too Much Fun.” (I can’t resist the urge to say that I feel bad for Commander Cody. All those years without a promotion.) Kirchen also played their stoner anthem, “Seeds and Stems (Again),” “Semi-Truck,” and what might be their signature song, “Hot Rod Lincoln.”
Watch Bill Kirchen play “Hot Rod Lincoln” live with Redd Volkaert on YouTube:
Truck songs are one of Bill’s things. He’s called his music “dieselbilly.” On Saturday, we got Del Reeves’s “Looking at the World Through a Windshield,” his own “One More Ride,” and “Truckin’ Trees for Christmas” by Red Simpson. The latter was both a trucking and a Christmas song. Normally, Kirchen plays here every year around Christmas. Last year, he suffered a pneumothorax (collapsed lung) that took him off the road for a while, but, thankfully, he fully recovered.
In addition to being rescheduled from last Christmas, this show also served to promote the release of Bill’s new album, Cat Out of the Bag, which features, fittingly, Somebody Please Let This “Cat Out of the Bag.” The album is out this Friday.
Dylan is also a big thing for Kirchen; he’s done entire shows devoted to his songs. At Jammin’ Java, Bill played “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” and he finished his set with “Like A Rolling Stone.” It fits, because Dylan looms heavily over what has become known as Americana. Bill’s covers of Dylan work especially well, because, being from Michigan, he has a similar accent. People say no one has an accent like Bob, but that’s not true. Dylan has an the Inland North accent found in the Great Lakes Region, which is distinct from the stereotypical “Minnesota accent” heard in Fargo. (It’s not surprising Dylan has it, because linguists have noted that Jews from Minnesota typically do.)
Of course, Kirchen is an accomplished songwriter in his own right, having written songs for other artist (he mentioned Maria Muldaur specifically). The set included “I’d Be A Poor Poor Man.” “Black Sheep Living In Bad Times,” “Word to the Wise,” “Honky Tonk Hellfire,” “Rock n Roll Kicks,” “Get A Little Goner,” and “If It’s Really Got to Be This Way.”
Bill is a superb guitarist who’s worked as a sideman with folks like Nick Lowe, and his playing was, as always, one of the highlights of the evening. It felt like a gathering of old friends, warm and inviting, to celebrate their shared loved of great music.
