Gnarly Guitarists: Bill Kirchen (part 2)

Bill Kirchen has played alongside Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Evan Johns, Billy Hancock, Tom Principato, Jorma Kaukonen, Redd Volkaert, and The Nighthawks.  He has appeared on albums by Gene Vincent, Link Wray, & Elvis Costello.  He's released solo albums for the UK’s Proper and Demon labels, as well as Black Top and Hightone in the US.  No small feat for a kid from Ann Arbor (where he was a classmate of IGGY POP!)  The photo at left is Bill riding high in Ann Arbor, back in 1962.

Bill was joined on his own Word To The Wise album by Costello, Lowe, Cody, Austin de Lone (from Eggs Over Easy), Paul Carrack, Maria Muldaur, and Dan Hicks (who cowrote and sang the title track as a duet with Kirchen).  Bill's wife Louise Kirchen also sings on Word To The Wise, and she has written songs for several of Bill's albums.  Bill has also written some great originals -- check out the double entendre "Talkin' About Chicken" (with Sarah Brown).

Bill was asked to join Nick Lowe’s backing group THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRDS alongside Geraint Watkins, and Watkins played on Kirchen's Hammer Of The Honky Tonk Gods album.

This is the second volume of Stinky's Best of Bill Kirchen, and it features Bill performing with Commander Cody, The Moonlighters, plus songs from his solo career.  Stinky promises, "If these go over well, I have a great solo live show that I’ll edit and turn into something Jon-Ky."

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