Tombstone Every Mile was Bill Kirchen’s first solo album, originally released in 1993. At the time, he led a Washington DC trio. Drummer Dave Elliott had spent years with the great guitarist Danny Gatton’s band The Fat Boys. Danny was to produce the disc, but by the third day of recording he still hadn’t shown up, so Bill ended up self-producing with engineer Ed Eastridge.
Bass man Jeff Sarli (who later ended up on a track of the Stones Steel Wheels album) had already played with artists on the Black Top label out of New Orleans, Robert Ward for one, so Bill pitched it there and they agreed to release it in USA. Kirchen then approached Jake Riviera at Demon, who he knew from making the Moonlighters disc with Nick Lowe, and they released it in Europe.
The album reflects what they were doing working the Honky-Tonks in DC and points beyond. There had been a formidable migration from the Southern states during the WW2 war effort, and so DC, as well as being a great historic of R&B town, was a hot bed of country music - Honky-Tonk, Bluegrass and Rock-A-Billy and their various permutations.
Kirchen hadn’t been writing much material post-Commander Cody, and was perfectly happy singing Dick Curless, Bob Wills and Buck Owens etc all night. So, he called on song writing friends like Blackie Farrell, Nick Lowe and Austin de Lone, who came through with some ideal material for the album, inspiring Bill to manage a couple of serviceable originals which remain in the repertoire to this day.
The album was only previously released on CD format which has been out of print for many years. This 2019 edition is available on CD 12” vinyl LP and digital formats.
Tombstone Every Mile was Bill Kirchen’s first solo album, originally released in 1993. At the time, he led a Washington DC trio. Drummer Dave Elliott had spent years with the great guitarist Danny Gatton’s band The Fat Boys. Danny was to produce the disc, but by the third day of recording he still hadn’t shown up, so Bill ended up self-producing with engineer Ed Eastridge.
Bass man Jeff Sarli (who later ended up on a track of the Stones Steel Wheels album) had already played with artists on the Black Top label out of New Orleans, Robert Ward for one, so Bill pitched it there and they agreed to release it in USA. Kirchen then approached Jake Riviera at Demon, who he knew from making the Moonlighters disc with Nick Lowe, and they released it in Europe.
The album reflects what they were doing working the Honky-Tonks in DC and points beyond. There had been a formidable migration from the Southern states during the WW2 war effort, and so DC, as well as being a great historic of R&B town, was a hot bed of country music - Honky-Tonk, Bluegrass and Rock-A-Billy and their various permutations.
Kirchen hadn’t been writing much material post-Commander Cody, and was perfectly happy singing Dick Curless, Bob Wills and Buck Owens etc all night. So, he called on song writing friends like Blackie Farrell, Nick Lowe and Austin de Lone, who came through with some ideal material for the album, inspiring Bill to manage a couple of serviceable originals which remain in the repertoire to this day.
The album was only previously released on CD format which has been out of print for many years. This 2019 edition is available on CD 12” vinyl LP and digital formats.
Available in:
CD, Vinyl, and Digital Download
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From the start of their careers, Kirchen and DeLone both looked to the past for inspiration, finding ways to enliven traditional sounds, and Transatlantica is merely another chapter in this journey: it may be familiar but it sounds fresh and it's one hell of a good time. 4 out of 5 Stars. ~ Thomas Erlewine. AllMusic
De Lone’s piano and organ capturing the soul of The Band while Kirchen just blasts the hell out of it. Magnificent. ~ Americana UK
