Bill Kirchen

Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods (Proper American)

As one of the kings of diesel-billy, Bill Kirchen drives his big-rig guitar faster than a trucker on bootleg speed. He is, after all, the man who parked “Hot Rod Lincoln” on the charts in 1972 with Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen. With Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods in hand, the Austin-based Kirchen’s clearly never lost sight of his destination: pure-dee American roots-fueled country rock. With Nick Lowe, Geraint Watkins, Robert Trehern, and Austin DeLone in tow, Kirchen gives a toot of the air horn to his Michigan roots (“Devil With the Blue Dress”), dance-floor shuffles (“Get a Little Goner”), Western swing (“One More Day”), and Jerry Lee Lewis (“Heart of Gold”). Kirchen’s also stepped forward with strong compositions including the salutary title track, but there’s no mistaking his trademark Telecaster, the twangy sound of six days on the road and home tonight.

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This article appears in February 2 • 2007.

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