A Conversation with Bill Kirchen (continued)

PM: You're such a good guitar player that, outside of Washington DC where you've been lavished with every music accolade known to man, some people don't realize what a great songwriter you are. In particular on this record, "Working Man" is an outstanding number.

BK: Oh, Frank, thanks so much. I'm glad you like that.

PM: Fantastic song, and just a great, great hook--"a working man doesn't understand why he can't afford a ticket to the promised land"--I mean, that's--as songwriter friends of mine would say, that a Hall of Fame hook.

BK: Ah, well, I don't know about that, but thank you very much. That was heartfelt, just watching the wealth gap get startlingly wider just in my adult lifetime, watching the top one percent triple the percentage of the wealth that they control. So that's where that came from.

PM: Absolutely.

BK: "Rocks in the Sand" came about because I was in England when there was that trial in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and they were attempting to force--they were calling it intelligent design, which was in fact creationism, they were attempting to force that into the school curricula as science.

PM: Right.

BK: And it went to trial, and a Judge, in my mind very rightly, said, "No, no, no, no, no, that's not--this is a disingenuous stunt here to mix religion and science, church and state." So anyway, I was in England, annoyed by that whole development. Before the verdict came out, I was worried that they were going to get away with it. And that song started as a rant, as an anti-creationist rant. It turned into, luckily, as Sarah put it, more of a meditation.

PM: Right. It's a great song. I also like "One More Day," and of course, the title song, "The Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods." I read that you and Elvis Costello did that together at the recent Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in SF's Golden Gate Park.

BK: Yes. He borrowed that name of the song and album for his band name at the Hardly Strictly. He wanted to do something different.

PM: [laughs] Fantastic.

BK: So he called it "Elvis Costello and the Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods." And he let me sing that, yeah. We've got a YouTube of me singing it, but the guy was worried about getting busted with his camera, so it's just a shot between the shoulders of Elvis playing rhythm and kind of nodding along. It looks like he's doing a good job on the rhythm guitar, too, I must say.

PM: Oh, yeah. Many people don't realize what a good guitar player he is. Is Elvis a good buddy of yours? What kind of a guy is he?

BK: Well, he's not a good buddy, but I consider him a friend. I run into him occasionally, and I'm always very happy to see him, and I've done a few jobs with him. He's a very interesting guy. It was very educational for me--when I played that show with Elvis, I had to go back and learn a bunch of stuff; when you have to learn it, you have to listen a lot closer, of course. And it redoubled my awe for him as a songwriter. Also, I'd just seen him and Alan Toussaint together, and I thought, man, this guy can certainly stand up next to Alan Toussaint on stage.

PM: Right, the way few can.

BK: The way few can, exactly. Elvis and Alan were stunning, it just was. It was wonderful to see some of Elvis's songs--of course, it was wonderful to see Alan Toussaint, that just made the hair on my neck go up. But just to see Elvis's songs recast in a new light gave me newfound respect for him.

PM: Now, "Heart of Gold," that was written by Tony Johnson. That's the fine musician I remember from [Bill's SF band] The Moonlighters, right?

BK: That is exactly right. And Tony wrote it, in fact, as a beautiful waltz. I tried to cut it as a waltz, and I just couldn't, somehow. It was just laying there, you know. I couldn't make it happen, and I liked the song so much. I was talking to Dave Gonzales about it--he's from the Paladins and from the Hacienda Brothers--we were touring with the Hacienda Brothers at the time. And he had a waltz he wanted me to do. And I said, "No, I got a waltz already. I don't really want to put two on the record."

PM: No.

BK: And he said, "Well, man, let me hear your other song." And he says, "Oh, no, no. You got to do that song like a twist beat, a boom papa oompa, oompapa."

PM: Wow!

BK: And I thought, no, no. I'll do it the way it is. But then I got to thinking about how I couldn't deliver it as a waltz, I got to thinking that he was dead right, that it made a very nice rock 'n' roll song. And it changed the meaning of the lyric. The lyrics went from sort of a poignancy to a swagger. But I think that's the mark of a good song, it stands up well to rough treatment.

PM: Absolutely.

[laughter]

PM: And speaking of guys with whom you go way back, the outstanding multi-instrumentalist and great vocalist Austin [Audie] DeLone figures prominently into this record.

BK: And he's the guy rockin' out on the piano on that very song. That was all one take. I was playing six string baritone guitar on that. I overdubbed the guitar solo towards the end, but the rest of that is just live singing and playing by people in the studio.

PM: Wow.

BK: And Audie is the greatest. I always travel as a trio unless I can get Audie, and then I travel as a quartet. That's basically how I've noticed my life works.

PM: That's a hell of a testament. As regards to the past, what's become of George Frayne, the Commander himself, what's he up to?

BK: Well, he still tours as the Commander. And he lives now in upstate New York area, in I believe Saratoga Springs area.

PM: And what about Billy C. Farlow, or Bruce Barlow, or--

BK: Bruce Barlow is still in Marin County, and he's got a writing project with his wife, Pam, that they're working on. And Billy C. continues to tour and put out records. He just made a new one not too long ago in Marin County. Billy lives in northern Alabama, not too far from you there.

PM: Wow. Well, thanks for indulging me about the past. But this new record is deservingly rocketing up the Americana chart, and certainly promises to be another watermark in a long distinguished career.

BK: Well, Frank, I really appreciate the interest you take in it. And it's great to talk to you again, man. You're someone from my past that I'm always just delighted to see. So I hope I get to see you more come March, and I hope I get to come through Nashville. I got to figure out some place to play in Nashville. I've kind of lost the page there.

PM: Okay. Well, let's talk about that, and let me see if I can help you book the right show in town.

BK: Yeah, we'll come up with that sometime. And you seem to be thriving, and I hope that continues.

PM: Thanks, yeah. Life is great, and it's getting better. And I look forward to seeing you and Louise at our next opportunity.

[Enjoy guerrilla video of Bill and his band doing "Hot Rod Lincoln" at the 2006 Americana Music Conference in Nashville.]

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