Bill Kirchen

Bill Kirchen earned his chief renown through his contributions in the 1970s alongside the outlaw ensemble Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen. That crew of rock & roll honky tonkers carved an expansive route across country and rock landscapes, forging a junction where the two styles could converge and fuse their assorted identities without friction.

Kirchen supplied a commanding presence in the Airmen’s achievements. An encounter in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, with George Frayne—who later performed as Commander Cody—launched Kirchen’s own musical path. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Ann Arbor, the eventual guitar master first studied trombone. During high school he connected with folksinger David Siglin and inserted himself into the surrounding folk community, a setting that prepared him for later projects. He acquired banjo and guitar skills there, and his folk curiosity gradually shifted toward blues and string bands. While still enrolled in college, Kirchen assembled his own group, an act characterized as “psycho folk-rock.” Around that period Detroit-based Frayne and future airman John Tichy resolved to assemble a country outfit. Because Kirchen, Frayne, and several other future Airmen had all attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the unit Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen came into being.

By 1969 Kirchen recognized that the band risked fading into anonymity unless decisive action occurred. Alert to the sounds emerging from San Francisco, he persuaded his bandmates to relocate to the West Coast. There they flourished, earning reputations as legendary outlaws celebrated by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson as well as the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead. Kirchen’s stature as vocalist, instrumentalist, stage presence, and songwriter grew firmer, illustrated by his singing and incisive guitar work on “Mama Hated Diesels” from the landmark album Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers’ Favorites and on the perennial favorite “Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues” from Lost in the Ozone. As a live performer he reached full maturity during the November 1973 recording of the widely praised Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas at Austin’s Armadillo World Headquarters. His contributions from that abbreviated chapter in the Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen saga continue to be recalled with reverence.

After the band dissolved in 1976, Kirchen established the Moonlighters, a swing orchestra. British artist Nick Lowe, who had taken note of Kirchen’s playing while he remained with the Airmen, sought him out. The resulting connection endured for years. Serving as producer of the Moonlighters’ debut album, Lowe discovered a kindred spirit in the gifted American. Kirchen traveled abroad with his friend and joined him in the studio. While in England, Kirchen’s approach proved highly sought after, as shown by his appearances on sessions for Elvis Costello, rockabilly king Gene Vincent, and Link Wray.

By 1986 Kirchen had settled in the Washington, D.C., area and asserted himself as a central figure on the local music circuit. Before signing with Black Top Records in 1994, he issued Tombstone Every Mile. Initially released in England on Costello’s Demon Records imprint, the hard-charging collection later appeared domestically on Black Top, marking the start of Kirchen’s sustained solo recording period.

Kirchen delivered Have Love, Will Travel in 1996. The widely admired album spans an eclectic range that highlights the many sides of his artistry. Recognized as one of the trailblazers who helped stake out territory for the Americana radio format, this still-unruly guitarist is also acknowledged as a progenitor of the twangcore movement that embraces figures ranging from the king of California, Dave Alvin, to rockabilly and roots-rock acts such as Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys and Wilco. Fellow iconoclast Junior Brown is likewise viewed as having received an early career lift from Kirchen’s commanding example, which has long served as a beacon for iconoclasts of every description. In 1999 Kirchen followed with Raise a Ruckus on Hightone Records.

A devoted husband of more than twenty-five years and father, Kirchen has played a vital role in preserving the legacies of numerous musical forerunners. Through his 1950s Telecaster and adaptable voice he has chronicled the work of Bakersfield’s premier songwriter Red Simpson and maverick tunesmith Blackie Farrell. Ernest Tubb’s onetime pedal-steel virtuoso Buddy Charleton, whose unerring twang and moan permeate Have Love, Will Travel, remains a regular participant in Kirchen’s projects. Forever forward-looking, Kirchen continues to treat music as an uncategorized art form without borders. Remaining with Hightone Records, he released Tied to the Wheel in 2001, King of Dieselbilly in 2005, and Hammer of the Honkey-Tonk Gods in 2006. In 2010 he issued the star-studded Word to the Wise, which included guest appearances by Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Maria Muldaur, and Paul Carrack and reached number six on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart. Three years afterward he returned with Seeds and Stems, revisiting numerous earlier favorites including “Hot Rod Lincoln” and the title track. He followed Seeds and Stems with the 2016 duet album Transatlanticana alongside Austin DeLone.