Bill Kirchen
by Paul T. Mueller
Sometimes you go to a show for entertainment and get some education as a bonus. Such was the case when Bill Kirchen played at Houston’s Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church on January 3. Kirchen’s solo performance, part of the church’s UniTunes Coffeehouse series, featured plenty of guitar heroics from the “Titan of the Telecaster” (he played two of the classic Fenders during the show), but also a healthy dose of the musical history he has been living, and contributing to, for the past half-century or so.
Kirchen’s shows with his band tend to be lively affairs, but the UniTunes show was more reflective than raucous, featuring a good deal of between-songs commentary in which he described his musical journey. No doubt most of the stories had been told before, but Kirchen tells them with warmth and charm that makes them seem more like personal revelations than practiced patter.
The show also featured a fair number of skillfully picked acoustic songs (guitar fans might be interested to know that Kirchen’s acoustic guitar was a Wayne Henderson instrument, in what Kirchen said was its first public performance).
Some highlights:
Several songs from Kirchen’s stint as lead guitarist of the musically eclectic Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, including “Semi-Truck,” “Down to Seeds and Stems Again” and, of course, “Hot Rod Lincoln,” a rockabilly tune that featured a string of brief but dead-on impersonations of seemingly everyone who’s ever played electric guitar on record.
- Several covers harking back to Kirchen’s folkie days, including Bob Dylan’s “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” and “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.”
- A couple of blues covers – Mississippi John Hurt’s “The Angels Laid Him Away” and Sleepy John Estes’ “Milk Cow Blues.”
- Two nice instrumentals, one acoustic (Buck Owens’ theme “Buckaroo”) and one electric (Santo & Johnny’s “Sleep Walk”).
- Several Kirchen originals, including “Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods,” his tribute to the Telecaster, and “Flip Flop,” his fond farewell to three of his musical heroes, Professor Longhair, Don Rich and Carter Stanley.Kirchen’s signature purple trombone – the instrument he played in his high school marching band – finally made an appearance during his encore song, “Milk Cow Blues.” Partway through, Kirchen turned over his guitar to his soundman while he took up the horn and made a brief visit to the pews before returning to the stage.