Bill Kirchen














Bill Kirchen
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Bill Kirchen plays American roots music. A Titan of the Telecaster guitar (Guitar Player magazine May 1998), he celebrates an American musical tradition where country music draws upon its origins in blues and bluegrass, and in the Western swing of Texas and California honky tonks. Bill Kirchen first gained renown as lead guitarist and a vocalist for Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, the renegade country-rock band that tuned a whole generation of rock fans into the joys of unvarnished country, boogie and rockabilly. It was the resonant twang of Kirchen's battered Telecaster that drove "Hot Rod Lincoln" into the Top Ten in 1972. Kirchen has also recorded and performed with Gene Vincent, Link Wray, Danny Gatton, Emmylou Harris, Hoyt Axton, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun swept the Washington Area Music Awards again in 1998, winning a total of five Wammies, including Musician and Artist of the Year, was a multiple winner in 1997 and received ten awards, including Songwriter of the Year in 1996. Seamlessly integrating the band's sound is Kirchen's incredible fluency in the tradition of American electric guitar, roots division. A Kirchen performance inevitably recalls a half century of guitar legends—from C&W virtuosos like Merle Travis, Joe Maphis and Grady Martin to rock legends like Scotty Moore, James Burton and Duane Eddy — and extends their brilliance into the nineties. Hear all this on his latest CD's Raise A Ruckus and Hot Rod Lincoln - Live! on HighTone Records. Bill has appeared with Cody on Midnight Special, Don Kirschner's Rock Concert and In Concert TV shows, with Hoyt Axton on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, in the MTV video Two Triple Cheese, and in 1996 with Nick Lowe on Conan O'Brian. Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun have performed at Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in DC, Wolf Trap in Virginia and at festivals and concerts across America. He has also been in demand on the lecture circuit. He delivered a talk at the National Museum of American History for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC as part of the Electrified, Amplified and Diefied - The Electric Guitar exhibition in 1996. In April of 1997 he spoke and performed at a lecture series for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Kicking off the 1997 TNN special Yesterday and Today: Honky Tonk & Western Swing, Bill is interviewed and performs along with Hank Thompson, Doug Sahm, Don Walser and more. He spoke in August 1998 at the International Conference on Elvis Presley in Memphis, TN.
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07/11/2010 - Bill Kirchen: The King Of Dieselbilly's 'Word To The Wise' - Read More
03/04/2009 - Bill Kirchen To Appear At Toms River Library  - Read More
01/22/2007 - One Hoarse Town: Bill Kirchen  - Read More
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Average Rating : 5              Total Reviews: 2


Bill Kirchen  01/18/2006            
Bill Kirchen  12/04/2004            
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