Two of the heavy hitters at Roots and Blues this weekend were Bill Kirchen and Russell deCarle.
Like fine whisky, these two well-seasoned performers have a passion for what they do and they do it so well.
Kirchen and deCarle first shared the stage in a Friday afternoon workshop called “Hittin’ it Out of the Park,” and what a home run that was!
The sound was mellow, somehow fitting for a lazy afternoon under a hot sun cloaked by smoke from more than 500 B.C. wildfires. But the music ramped up as Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Cindy Church, Nathan Tinkham, Steve Briggs and Pharis and Jason Romero jammed seamlessly with Kirchen and deCarle.
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From heart-aching blues, songs for people who don’t fit in and how little that matters, a folk tune about a trapper who was eaten by a bear in his own orchard, a deCarle song about youth that “took us from the hills and spills and put us on the pills” and deep-seated loneliness of Tanqueray: “Neon’s flashing. Air conditioned inside, wallow in comfort, drown your pride. Everybody’s got their stories up and down the rail. Broken hearts, love lost tales.”
Following 70-year-old Kirchen’s view of a good morning, “I know it’s gonna be good if I stick out my elbows and they don’t touch wood,” assembled players erupted into a guitar jam with Diesel Chevette: the Last Ride.
A few hours later, Kirchen revved up a large crowd at the Barn Stage, along with Rick Vito and Brent Parkin, and was back at the Barn Saturday afternoon with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, deCarle and Steve Briggs, Cindy Church and Nathan Tinkham and the John Ellis Trio for “Siesta Cinema,” which was anything but sleepy.
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Kirchen says his love for music began at a very early age, with a record of Teddy Bear’s Picnic. In Grade 4 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he began playing the trombone and was very excited in 1964 to get his mom’s banjo.
A fan of western songs and classic rock ‘n’ roll, he became the proud owner of a Harmony Sovereign guitar, followed by one of the more inexpensive Martin’s in 1950.
His second electric guitar, a Telecaster, was made from 150-year-old pine from a New York loft once owned by actor/director Jim Jarmusch.
“It’s magic to me, it came down the Hudson River from the Bowery Fire,” Kirchen says of its creator, famous luthier Rick Kelly and his Bowery Pine Series.
Another guitar came from floorboards of the Chelsea Hotel in Greenwich Village.
An American rockabilly guitarist, singer and songwriter, Kirchen was a member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen from 1967 to the mid-1970s and is known as “The Titan of The Telecaster” for his musical prowess on the guitar.
That is a talent that, like the man himself, has been well-honed over time. Following his time with the band, Kirchen began writing seriously, sometimes with his wife Louise, whom he describes as a great songwriter.
In Man in the Bottom of the Well, a song about facing one’s own mortality, Kirchen wrote, “I made a wish and tossed two pennies in.” When he was stumped, Louise added, “They ricocheted, and the wish I made spun round and round.”
“I’ve been so lucky; the pop end of music is youth-driven, but this is not,” he says, heaping praise on festival artistic director Peter North for his deep well of musical knowledge and ability to create workshops that musicians love to attend and know they’ll be able enjoy participating in.
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The attitude is echoed by deCarle.
“It’s a hit with the right people,” he says, noting he likes to play the unscripted workshops that can be a lot of fun with the right casting. “Peter’s a master at that.”
While many of deCarle’s lyrics speak of loss, loneliness and pain, the 65-year-old guitar slinger/songwriter is high on life.
“This is my 46th year on the road and I am having more fun than ever,” he says, refuting the comments of many who say life must be so hard on the road. “I still feel like a kid and staying excited is one of the keys.”
A musical career was never planned, although he did start singing at a very early age.
“Mom said I was the only one who would sing with a mouth full.”
When deCarle was 14, guitarist Keith Glass taught him to play bass and, in 1974, a trio was formed with steel guitarist Dennis Delorme.
Together for 14 years, Prairie Oyster was named Country Group of the year six times by both the Canadian Country Music Association and the Juno Awards. They have four No. 1 country singles in Canada, with an additional 12 singles reaching the Canadian Country Top 10. Eight of their albums have been certified gold or platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, including the 1992 CCMA Album of the Year Everybody Knows.
Such a Lonely One was written for Prairie Oyster and reached No. 1 on the RPM Country Tracks. deCarle says he wrote the lyrics, “Time doesn’t stop for your broken heart, the world keeps on turning around…,” as a compassionate look at a friend’s situation.
While the lyrics of some songs rumble about in his brain for many years, inspiration comes from many places.
“Sometimes something happens and something falls out (of his brain),” he says. “I just never know.”
What he does know for sure is that he loves the Roots and Blues Festival.
“The vibe is so great – comfortable and loose.”
@SalmonArm
barb.brouwer@saobserver.net
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