Bill Kirchen - 2014-03-21 - Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, CA

Bill Kirchen - 2014-08-24 at American Folk Festival, Bangor, ME

Bill Kirchen
2014-03-21
Freight & Salvage,  Berkeley, CA
Audience recording, good quality
mp3 @ 160 kbps

Here's more (two full sets!) from the legendary guitarist Bill Kirchen (Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, 'King of Dieselbilly', 'Titan of the Telecaster'), this one a recent show from earlier this year. And this show is special because it not only features Bill with a a full band (rather than the trio format he often tours with), which includes long-time collaborator (and former pub-rocker with Eggs Over Easy), keyboardist Austin de Lone, but also serves as a partial reunion with a couple of his old Lost Planet Airmen bandmates, bassist Buffalo Bruce Barlow, and pedal steel guitarist Bobby Black. In addition, long-time collaborator, singer-songwriter Kevin 'Blackie' Farrell (who wrote several of the old Commander Cody songs) also joins them on a hand-full of songs. Bill has certainly kept busy in recent years. His 2010 album, Word to the Wise, features duets with several of his friends and musicians he admires, including Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Dan Hicks, Maria Muldaur, and Commander Cody. His most recent album, Seeds and Stems (2013), is a live-in-the-studio recording featuring new versions of many of his favorite and most requested songs, sort of a best of - live, without the annoyances of a live concert recording, and both are excellent. Although well into his sixties now, Bill still tours regularly and does >200 shows a year, dazzling and delighting audiences with his unique style and performances. Bill's shows are just a joy to watch and listen to, as it is obvious that he genuinely just loves to perform, sing and play his guitar, and he is brilliant at it, and he has just as much or more fun than anyone there. Although he is not as well-known as he should be, he is definitely a national treasure. In this show, we get a fuller band sound, closer to the old Commander Cody days, with the added keyboards and pedal steel. The first set features more of the old CC songs, whereas the second set features more of his solo career songs, but both are wonderful. He also gives up the lead vocals to his bandmates for a few songs, letting Austin and Bruce sing some, as well as guest Blackie Farrell. Although this is an audience recording, and the only available version I could find is a low bitrate (from Sugarmegs), it is nonetheless a great show (good audience recording) and worth checking out. So, here's more from the great Bill Kirchen.

Tracklist:
 Set 1
 01. Intro
 02. Looking at the World Through a Windshield
 03. Tell Me the Reason
 04. Rocks into Sand
 05. Heart of Gold
 06. Losing Hand (Austin de Lone vocal)
 07.  talk (old days - intro)
 08. Wine, Wine, Wine
 09. Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues
 10. Semi-Truck
 11. Mama Hated Diesels*
 12. I'm Coming Home*
 13. Hot Rod Lincoln

 Set 2
 14. Intro
 15. Get a Little Goner
 16. Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods
 17. Time Will Tell the Story
 18. C'mon Everybody (Bruce Barlow vocal)
 19. Let's Rock (Austin de Lone vocal)
 20. All Tore Up
 21. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
 22. My Window Faces the South
 23. talk (Blackie Farrell)
 24. Rockabilly Funeral*
 25. talk - 'Chicken' Intro
 26. Talkin' About Chicken
 27. Band Intros
 28. The Times They Are A-Changin'
 29. Crowd noise - Encore Intro
Encore:
 30. Truckstop at the End of the World*
 31. Riot in Cell Block #9*

 Personnel:
 Bill Kirchen - guitar, vocals
 Austin de Lone - keyboards, vocals
 Buffalo Bruce Barlow - bass, vocals
 Paul Revelli - drums
 Bobby Black - Pedal Steel Guitar
 *Kevin 'Blackie' Farrell - guitar, vocals

Bill Kirchen_2014-03-21_Berkeley CA.rar
Link updated 11/7/21

Note: Picture included is not from the Berkeley show, but is a picture I took from his show at the American Folk Festival, Bangor, Maine, 8-24-14, which I attended.