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Friday, June 10, 2016

BILL KIRCHEN & AUDIE DE LONE - listen to their Merle Haggard tribute now; new album out 8/26




BILL KIRCHEN & AUSTIN DE LONE
Transatlanticana

New Studio Album Unites the Titan of the Telecaster with the Godfather of Pub Rock
Recorded in Austin, TX and London, UK with an all star cast
Tour and festival dates announced including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2016
(August 26, 2016; Red House Records)

  



Bill Kirchen and Austin de Lone team up for a hands-across-the-Atlantic collection with their new studio album, Transatlanticana, out on August 26, 2016 on Red House Records. This long-overdue release unites the pioneers of two major musical movements: Kirchen co-founded the original “Americana” band, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, and his trademark Telecaster licks drove their hit “Hot Rod Lincoln” into the Top 10 in 1972. De Lone dropped out of Harvard to start Eggs Over Easy, moving to London and recording with Jimi Hendrix’s producer/manager and The Animals’ bass player Chas Chandler in 1970. The Eggs are the progenitors of British pub rock, the first link in the chain to punk rock, new wave and beyond. Backed by both their all-star British and American bands, Transatlanticana finds Kirchen and de Lone trading songwriting credits and lead vocals on this soulful and rocking collection. They kick it off with the timely “Hounds of the Bakersfield,” a tribute to the late Merle Haggard and the Bakersfield, CA sound.

Kirchen and de Lone cut the album in Austin and London, capturing on disc the best of their 30-year collaboration. Kirchen is Austin-based; de Lone is in the San Francisco Bay Area, but both artists have longtime ties with the UK scene: Kirchen has toured as a guitarist with Nick Lowe and put out three albums on UK label Proper Records; de Lone has toured as keyboard player for Lowe and Elvis Costello and put out his first solo album on UK label Demon Records. 

They first collaborated in the mid-1970s, writing together as The Moonlighters: “We sent Nick Lowe a bunch of songs for Rockpile, but unbeknownst to us they had decided to break up,” Kirchen says. What de Lone got back was a letter from Lowe that began, “Dear hero o’ mine. There’s not many of us left…” Lowe then offered to produce them in London, and the resulting Moonlighters album, Rush Hour, came out in 1983 on the Edsel label. Since then, Bill and Austin have teamed up with with Lowe and Costello many times: de Lone has worked with Lowe, Paul Carrack and Costello on several tours and Kirchen held the guitar chair for Lowe’s critically acclaimed Impossible Bird disc and tour. In 2008, Costello borrowed the title cut from Kirchen’s album Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods for his band name at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco featuring de Lone, Kirchen, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welsh and Jim Lauderdale. 

The songs of Transatlanticana represent the core elements of Americana music – R&B, country, rock and even a gospel track. Butch Hancock duets his song “Oxblood” with Kirchen. It’s a meaty slice of Texas boogie recorded with the Austin contingent. “I guess they used to color concrete with ox blood; I thought it was just an old shoe polish color” says Kirchen. 

Kirchen contributes “Wine, Wine, Wine”, quintessential Commander Cody, straight-up country sad from their first sessions in Ann Arbor ’67. (Fun fact: Bill and Iggy Pop graduated same year, same class from Ann Arbor High School.)

“Let’s Rock” is a vintage de Lone/Kirchen co-write featuring an easy, chugging groove and de Lone’s tasteful piano work. 

“Somebody’s Goin’ Home” is a Blackie Farrell/Kirchen co-write. “I saw the Staple Singers for the first time in 1964 at the Newport Folk Festival, then had to wait 50 years ’til I saw Mavis again, when we both performed at the Salmon Arms Fest in Canada,” Kirchen recalls.  “It is a nod to that great family, written as a gospel song without ‘The Gospel.’ ” It's also a poignant look at the certainty and mysteries of loss, in true gospel style. 

De Lone contributes “Warm and Tender Love,” a track that showcases his deep love and understanding of rhythm and blues. “I loved all the great Memphis soul ballads, and all the fantastic singing that Percy Sledge did, so simple and so sweet.” It’s an understated, soulful vocal performance, intimate and personal. 

“Already Walking” is a bittersweet pop song written by de Lone and his daughter Caroline de Lone, who sings harmony on the track’s catchy chorus. It’s about moving on and dealing with hard times, being “on the way back” from a loss. 

Their ringing, rockified version of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They are A-Changin’” closes down the album with a bang -- it’s an anthemic, fresh take on a song you’ve heard a thousand times and somehow these guys infuse it with a singular power that comes from crazy talent, years spent playing together and a deep love of Dylan.

Kirchen: “I first saw him [Dylan] at my high school in Ann Arbor in ’63, then Newport Folk Festival in ’64 where he debuted "Mr. Tambourine Man." I went to Newport the next year and saw him ‘go electric’. I loved it. What I saw those two years at Newport, and all the wild music that came through Ann Arbor and Detroit pretty much ruined me for normal work.”

Spirited and served up with wit and humor, Transatlanticana is a gem –- a ringside seat to these transatlantic sessions by a group of like-minded, top-of-their-game players enjoying each other’s musical company.  For tour dates and more info go to http://www.billkirchen.com.

Cast of characters: Gurf Morlix, Butch Hancock, Rick Richards, David Carroll, Sarah Brown, Louise Kirchen (representing Texas); Bobby Black, Paul Revelli, Michael Godwin, André Moran and Caroline de Lone (representing Calilfornia) and Paul “Bassman” Riley and Malcolm Mills (representing the UK).

TOUR DATES
# Transatlanticana shows with Audie de Lone and band
FR Jun 10    Alexandria, LA  - Spirits Food & Friends
SA Jun 11     Kerrville Folk Fest - Quiet Valley Ranch
WE Jun 15    Austin, TX - Saxon Pub
TH Jun 16     New Braunfels, TX - Gruene Hall
SA Jun 25     Buffalo, NY - Riverside Park
SU Jun 26    Troy, NY - The Hanger
MO Jun 27    Rochester, NY - Abilene Bar & Lounge
WE Jun 29    Austin, TX - Broken Spoke
TH Jun 30     New Braunfels, TX - Gruene Hall
SA Jul 02      Berlin, MD - The Globe Theater
SU Jul 03      Alexandria, VA - Birchmere
WE Jul 06     London, UK - Troubadour Club
TH Jul 07      London, UK - Troubadour Club
SU-FR Jul 10-15  Elkins, WV - Augusta Heritage Early Country Music Camp
TH Jul 28      Fredericksburg, TX - Hilltop Cafe
FR Aug 05    Brownfield, ME - Stone Mountain Arts Center
SA Aug 06     Dover, NH - Red & Shorty's House Concert
FR Aug 12 - MO Aug 15  Pomeroy, OH - Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch
TH Aug 18    Pawling, NY - Daryl’s House
FR Aug 26    Liberty, UT - Ogden Valley Roots & Blues Festival
FR Aug 19    Hamden CT - The Ballroom at the Outer Space
SU Aug 21    Piermont, NY - The Turning Point
SA Aug 27    Berkeley, CA  - Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse #
SU Aug 28    Santa Monica, CA - McCabe's Guitar Shop (Bill Kirchen & Audie de Lone duo show)
FR Sep 02     Richmond, VA  - The Tin Pan
SA Sep 03     Alexandria, VA - Birchmere #
FR Sep 09 - SU Sep 11  Greensboro, NC - National Folk Festival
TH Sep 15    Wimberley, TX - Wimberly Methodist Church
FR Sep 16    Baton Rouge, LA - Red Dragon Listening Room # 
SA Sep 17    New Orleans, LA - Chickie Wah Wah #
MO Sep 19   Buffalo, NY - Sportsmens Tavern - SAM Awards
FR Oct 28     Austin, TX - The Backstage at El Mercado
SA Oct 29     Houston, TX - The Mucky Duck
FR Sep 30 - SU Oct 02 - San Francisco, CA - Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival #
FR Oct 28     Austin, TX - Backstage at ElMercado #
SA Oct 29     Houston, TX - The Mucky Duck #
FR Nov 4      Minneapolis, MN - Lee's Liquor Lounge
SAT Nov 5    Berwyn, IL - Fitzgerald's
SA Nov 19    Bethesda, MD - Bethesda Women's Club
TH Dec 01    Northampton, MA - The Iron Horse #
FR Dec 02    Shirley, MA - Bull Run Restaurant #
SA Dec 03    Buffalo, NY - The Sportsmens Tavern #
SU Dec 04    Rochester, NY - The Lovin' Cup #



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