Bill Kirchen Tickets

Bill Kirchen (born January 29, 1948 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American rockabilly guitarist, singer and songwriter. Besides being a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Kirchen is also known for his whistling skills and trombone playing. He was the guitarist with the original Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen from 1967 to the mid-1970s, although his time accounts for only a portion of his career. Known as The Titan of The Telecaster for his diverse musical styles, he played the unmistakable lead on the 1972 Commander Cody hit Hot Rod Lincoln. In the years since, his body of work has been rich and varied, recording albums and making dozens of appearances on recordings by other artists.

In recent years, Kirchen has toured or recorded with Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Doug Sahm, Emmylou Harris, Austin de Lone and others. Kirchen's signature sound has been dubbed Dieselbilly as it incorporates elements of Country music, Blues, Rockabilly, Western Swing and Boogie-Woogie - laced with themes of American truck driving music that were explored years earlier by Red Sovine, Dave Dudley, Red Simpson and others. These styles were later fully developed during his stint with Commander Cody and his writing collaborations with Blackie Farrell. While categorizing his music in this way often the breadth of his influences and depth of his talent are ignored.

He plays a Fender Telecaster almost exclusively, and his main unit through the years has been a 1959 model with a Maple fretboard and Sunburst finish - practically all of which has been worn off by years of playing. For the better part of 20 years he lived in the Washington D.C. area, where he formed the band Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun, featuring Dave Elliot on drums and Jeff Sarli on bass. The band produced a string of critically acclaimed albums: Have Love, Will Travel, Hot Rod Lincoln - Live, Raise a Ruckus, Tied to the Wheel, and Dieselbilly Road Trip.

Kirchen is a contemporary of many D.C. guitarists such as the late Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan, Link Wray, Tom Principato, Evan Johns, Billy Hancock, Linwood Taylor, Dave Chappell, the Nighthawks and others who, during this time, forged an elite fraternity of Washington D.C. area roots rock performers. Kirchen released his first album in a number of years January 30, 2007, Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods on Proper American Records. The disc is a mix of Kirchen's musical styles. Nick Lowe on the album. Kirchen is also quite popular in Britain, Europe and Australia.