For those not in the know, and telling it like it is, upon tallying how many decades he’s worked as a professional guitar slinger, Telecaster master Bill Kirchen quips, “Well, they don't make 50 years like they used to.”

They don’t often make careers like his, either. From performing with his Who Knows Pickers jug band in Ann Arbor High School’s senior talent show (also on the program: the future Iggy Pop), to birthing the Americana genre with the original “hippie country band,” Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, this affable Austinite has been everywhere, man, flying alongside some of the planet’s coolest cats — including the Jesus of Cool, Nick Lowe, and Lowe’s old protégé, Elvis Costello.

In fact, playing guitar has been his only job ever since. Over a ten-year period commencing in 2006, he made albums exclusively at Proper Records' Specific Sound studio in London.

Thus, all thirty-eight tracks, including some bonus material, are available come July 24th, 2020 (via The Last Music Company) in a quite magnificent, retrospective 2CD package, aptly entitled The Proper Years.

Featuring guest spots from the aforementioned Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello, Kirchen also teams up with Paul Carrack, Commander Cody, Dan Hicks, Maria Muldaur, Butch Hancock, and many more in this tour-de-force of Americana and Alt. Country.

CD 1:
1. 'Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
2. 'Rocks Into Sand' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
3. 'Get A Little Goner' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
4. 'Skid Row In My Mind' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
5. 'Working Man' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
6. 'Soul Cruisin'' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
7. 'Truth Be Told' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
8. 'Devil With The Blue Dress'
9. 'One More Day' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
10. 'Heart Of Gold' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
11. 'If It's Really Got To Be This Way' (with Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins)
12. 'Bump Wood'
13. 'Shelly's Winter Love' (with Paul Carrack and Nick Lowe)
14. 'Man In The Bottom Of The Well' (with Elvis Costello)
15. 'I Don't Work That Cheap' (with Commander Cody)
16. 'Time Will Tell The Story'
17. 'Husbands And Wives' (with Chris O'Connell)
18. 'Open Range' (with Blackie Farrell)
19. 'Arkansas Diamond'

CD 2:
1. 'Word To The Wise' (with Dan Hicks)
2. 'Ain't Got Time For The Blues' (with Maria Muldaur)
3. 'Valley Of The Moon' (with Norton Buffalo)
4. 'Too Much Fun'
5. 'Tell Me The Reason'
6. 'Down To Seeds And Stems'
7. 'Semi-Truck'
8. 'Rockabilly Funeral'
9. 'Womb To The Tomb'
10. 'Flip Flop'
11. 'Swing Fever'
12. 'It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry'
13. 'Truck Stop At The End Of The World'
14. 'Mama Hated Diesels'
15. 'Hot Rod Lincoln'
16. 'Talkin' About Chicken'
17. 'Think It Over' (with Austin de Lone)
18. 'Oxblood' (with Butch Hancock)
19. 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' (with Austin de Lone)

A well-balanced mix of engaging originals and wonderfully rendered covers, The Proper Years admirably conveys the Telecaster titan's versatility as a player and singer — one of the first to mash up rockabilly, country, Western swing, honky-tonk, jump blues, jazz, boogie-woogie and even the “psychedelic folk rock” he played with the Seventh Seal, the band he formed while attending the University of Michigan.

Kicking off in some fine old school rockin' swing style with the brilliant 'Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods' (the first of ten tracks accompanied by Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins, the latter a Welsh singer, songwriter, rock and roll pianist and accordionist), Kirchen then flows seamlessly into the countrified lo-fi ramble of 'Rocks Into Sand,' the mid-tempo honky tonk of 'Get A Little Goner' (which also features frequent contributor Sarah Brown; coincidentally also raised in Ann Arbor), and then the ballad 'Skid Row In My Mind' and the reverb club rock of 'Working Man.'

A musician more interested in sounding like Doc Watson than Eric Clapton, and whose main guitar was crafted by Rick Kelly of Carmine Street Guitars from 200-year-old pine floorboards recycled from film director Jim Jarmusch’s loft, next up is the gentle hipsway of 'Soul Cruisin' and balladeering craftmanship of 'Truth Be Told,' and then both the finger-snappin', slow roll flow of a later in life version of the song made into a hit by Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels in 1966, 'Devil With The Blue Dress' and the perky 'One More Day' (once again featuring both Nick Lowe and Geraint Watkins - as are the next two tracks).

Taking a trip into the hue of Cash country, we head into 'Heart Of Gold' and then the mid-tempo lullaby of 'If It's Really Got To Be This Way' is brought forth. The tempo is punched back up for 'Bump Wood,' the harmonious magnificence of Merle Haggard’s 1971 ballad 'Shelly's Winter Love' (with Paul Carrack and Nick Lowe), and then we get my own personal favorite here, the Elvis Costello-enhanced 'Man In The Bottom Of The Well.'

The vibrant Hammond-inspired storytelling of 'I Don't Work That Cheap' (with Commander Cody) is yet another stand out cut and that's followed by the gentle foot-tappin' beats of 'Time Will Tell The Story.'

The alluring majesty of 'Husbands And Wives' (with former Asleep at the Wheel’s Chris O’Connell) is up next, with the first CD rounding out with the Americana vibe of both 'Open Range' (with guitarist Blackie Farrell) and then closing out with 'Arkansas Diamond.'

The second disc opens with the chatty musical reminiscing of 'Word To The Wise' (with Dan Hicks, who sadly died in 2016) and then follows that up with the mid-tempo, dulcet swing of 'Ain't Got Time For The Blues' (with folk and blues singer Maria Muldaur), the honky tonk 'Valley Of The Moon' (with Norton Buffalo, who played harmonica with the Airmen and Moonlighters, and who also passed away shortly after recording), and then jacks that rock guitar vibe up with 'Too Much Fun,' the foot-tappin' melodies of 'Tell Me The Reason,' and then the low slung ballad 'Down To Seeds And Stems.'

A devoted Anglophile, thanks to two aunts who married Brits, Kirchen began recording for the British label (distributed in the U.S. under the Proper American name) after owner Malcolm Mills promised, “I'm going to give you the best deal you've had in 25 years.”

He did, too, as personified in the fact that Mills not only supports Kirchen’s recorded output, he also supports the guitarist onstage, right alongside engineer/bassist Paul Riley.

Up next we get the precise finger-pickin' style, let alone a tutorial in how to play the bass, on the gently frenetic 'Semi-Truck,' which he backs up with the lo-fi 'Rockabilly Funeral,' the reminiscing of 'Womb To The Tomb,' and then both the funky 'Flip Flop' and the delightfully jaunty 'Swing Fever.'

The brilliant, laid back rock ambiance of 'It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry' is yet another highlight here, and that's backed by the more controlled frenzy of the Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen hit 'Truck Stop At The End Of The World,' and then comes the fun tone of 'Mama Hated Diesels' and the fast-paced storytelling of 'Hot Rod Lincoln.'

The Americana-countrified track 'Talkin' About Chicken' is always a finger-snappin' delight to behold, and that's backed by the vocal reaching expertise of 'Think It Over' (with keyboardist Austin de Lone), with this wondrous 2CD package coming to a close on the fully charged 'Oxblood' (with Butch Hancock), and then ends with a Tom Petty-esque rendition of Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' (once again with de Lone).

A mere 50 years later, and it's obvious that Kirchen’s still having a blast playing and making music. In fact, he’s even planning another tour with Riley and Mills, but as for releasing this new package, he says, “[It] nicely puts a bow on a whole, very enjoyable period of my life.”

“Not that it's over,” he adds quickly. “I mean, I’ve got more stuff in the works.”

Then he cracks, “Don’t tell anybody, but it's not as hard as it looks!”

CD Purchase Link

www.BillKirchen.com