Bill Kirchen
TIED TO THE WHEEL
(HIGHTONE)

Here’s what Bill Kirchen says as the last strains of a truck-driving song fade in the smoke of whatever bar he’s playing in: " Time for another truck-driving song! " True to his passion, the one-time guitar slinger for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen kicks off this disc with his own " Truck Stop at the End of the World, " a post-apocalyptic tale of 18-wheelers that opens with a rumbling guitar line reminiscent of more than one Johnny Cash classic. But Kirchen isn’t completely obsessed; only four of the 12 tracks relate directly to the road, not counting the chicken-picking instrumental " Poultry in Motion. " Relying heavily on guitar and pedal-steel accompaniment, he applies his everyman’s vocals to a little Western swing, some straight-up honky-tonk, and even a clangy, semi-psychedelic version of Dylan’s " Just like Tom Thumb’s Blues, " where his working rhythm section — drummer Jack O’Dell and bass player Tom Castle — get to flail some. Kirchen, who’s based in the DC area, is also joined by the Seldom Scene’s Dudley Connell on Joe Maphis’s famous " Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music) " and by various friends from his San Francisco Bay Area days with the Commander.

Issue Date: October 18 - 25, 2001