This Old Hammer

‘King of Dieselbilly’ Bill Kirchen closes out Princeton Summer Courtyard Concerts.

By: Susan Van Dongen

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BILL KIRCHEN


   Guitarist Bill Kirchen doesn’t know for sure what inspired him to title his new album Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods (Proper American). There is a biography about Led Zeppelin titled Hammer of the Gods, but that’s different. Mr. Kirchen’s deities are "honky-tonk" gods, as if he envisioned Zeus, Poseidon and Mercury going out on a Saturday night to have a few cold ones and shake it to some good old roots rock.
   Known as "The King of Dieselbilly," and creator of the great guitar riffs that propelled Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen’s hit "Hot Rod Lincoln," Mr. Kirchen and his band will close out this year’s Princeton Summer Courtyard Concert Series with a free performance Aug. 30 at the Princeton Shopping Center Courtyard. The veteran guitarist is constantly on the road, across the country and around the world, so a Princeton-area show is a rarity.
   "We’ll be playing some music from our new record, but we’ll have some of the famous stuff as well, including a nice long version of ‘Hot Rod Lincoln,’" says Mr. Kirchen, speaking from his home near Washington, D.C. "We’ll be up on our hind legs and rocking the place."
   A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., who graduated from high school alongside classmate Iggy Pop, there was never a hesitation in Mr. Kirchen’s heart to play music professionally. Because it’s a college town, Ann Arbor was inundated with great musical acts from all genres — folk, blues, roots rock, bluegrass and old time music. He was playing trombone when a counselor at the esteemed Interlochen Arts Academy introduced young Bill to folk music.
   "I said, ‘This trombone has got to go,’" Mr. Kirchen says. "I found a banjo in my mom’s attic and got Pete Seeger’s (banjo instruction) book and a 10-inch Folkways record and off I went."
   Not long after, he tried guitar, trying to simulate the finger picking of Mississippi John Hurt. A big leap forward came at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, where Mr. Kirchen attended a master class in American roots music. He went back to the festival in 1965 and witnessed Bob Dylan "plugging in."
   "I was really lucky to hear some of the legends," he says. "I saw the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, the Kentucky Colonels with Clarence White in Ann Arbor. There was just music in the air there. Then at Newport, I saw bluesmen like Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Skip James. But when I saw Bob Dylan go electric in 1965, it rendered me unfit for normal employment. I got spoiled at an early age and said ‘gimme that guitar.’ Things happen fast when you’re young. Between 1965 and ’68 a whole world opened up to me.
   "There was a scene, there were older people at the (University of Michigan) who were willing to share what they knew with me about country blues, so I got into that early," Mr. Kirchen adds. "Then, by the late ’60s, I was doing it myself and we had started Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen."
   The revival of interest in roots rock has buoyed Mr. Kirchen’s career and he has no desire to slow down.
   "I really love what I do and that’s the bottom line," he says. "It’s a privilege to make a living singing and playing guitar. I feel younger than I should. But I’m not the only guy in his late 50s up there on stage. I think we get better with age."
   Thanks to the Internet and a new generation’s curiosity about their parents’ (or grandparents’) music, and their ability to download and check out just about anything, younger people are discovering his solo recordings, as well as Commander Cody’s material from the early ’70s. His accountants confirm it: the numbers keep getting better.
   "That means younger people are finding out about me," Mr. Kirchen says. "But it’s always been that way. There have always been kids who looked back at older music, including myself, because they’re restless with what they’re being fed. Look at the way radio stations have consolidated. That’s not a good idea, and it’s not helping the consumer. People will look outside what they’re being offered. That’s the great thing about the Internet. I’ve definitely benefited from the electronic age of music."
   After Commander Cody broke up, Mr. Kirchen spent some time in London, recording with a new band, the Moonlighters. Nick Lowe, a huge fan of American roots rock, produced the Moonlighters’ second album and the two musicians have remained friends and cohorts in sound. In fact, Mr. Lowe plays bass on Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods. Mr. Kirchen has also worked frequently with Elvis Costello, another admirer. It’s an example of the British appreciating American blues and roots music more than Americans do. The Brits do their thing with it, as did the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin, to name just a few artists, and export it back to the United States.
   "That’s historically been the case in Europe and England, especially with blues and jazz," Mr. Kirchen says. "They have a peculiar angle to what we do. I hope the way they look westward (for inspiration) continues."
   Some 40 years into a career he thoroughly enjoys, Mr. Kirchen reflects that it all started off with the banjo, playing old time music, which he still loves. "To this day, I consider myself a folk artist," he says. "Although, one who plays too fast and too loud."
Bill Kirchen and the Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods will perform at the Princeton Shopping Center Courtyard, 301 N. Harrison St., Princeton, Aug. 30, 6 p.m. Free. (609) 924-8777; www.artscouncilofprinceton.org. Bill Kirchen on the Web: www.billkirchen.com