Bill Kirchen – Cat Out Of The Bag

It is also a declaration of freedom from the confines of his past. He wanted to explore new sounds, find new approaches  … and he did

Bill Kirchen – Cat Out Of The Bag
Format: CD – Digital
Label: Last Music Company
Release: 2026

Release date: May 22, 2026

Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen AIMS HIS TELECASTER TOWARD THE STARS
⏤ AND UNSPOOLS SOME WILD TALES ⏤
ON NEW ALBUM
‘CAT OUT OF THE BAG’

The Austin-based guitarist, singer and songwriter confirms his lust for life — and offers up his lyrically referenced “rock ’n’ roll soul” — in several songs exhibiting the rockabilly-meets-honky-tonk style that earned him his “titan” status (as well as a Best Country Instrumental Performance Grammy nomination for the chicken-pickin’ song, “Poultry in Motion”).

The music flowing from Kirchen’s roots-loving heart to his ever-nimble fingers also blends boogie-woogie, jazz, jump blues, Western swing, country, folk and other idioms; yes, he was playing Americana before it had a name. In fact, he helped pioneer the genre, way back when he co-founded what he calls his “hippie country band”: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Back in the ‘70s, Kirchen’s twangalicious, fret-sizzling guitar riffs drove that band’s version of “Hot Rod Lincoln” to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

But for Kirchen, ‘Cat Out of the Bag’ is also a declaration of freedom from the confines of his past. He wanted to explore new sounds, find new approaches  … and he did.

“This album has the broadest scope yet of any of the dozen or so I’ve done in my own name,” he says. “A bigger palette of genres, songwriting, guitar work.” Amid the vibrancy of uptempo songs such as the title tune, the rollicking “Honky-Tonk Hellfire” and “City Mix” (with its “hillbilly licks”), there is also more downbeat fare, both thematically and musically.

“Inside My Baby’s Heart” is a prime example. With intricately layered guitar textures, tasteful tones and gentle, yet insistent drum/percussion touches, it slowly builds momentum into a sweeping, almost orchestral piece, creating dramatic tension that perfectly underscores its poignant subject: a lover’s quest to understand a partner’s darker moments.

Sixty years into his career, Kirchen’s musical life is filled with too many friends and connections to count, but keyboardist de Lone, who wrote “Cat Out of the Bag” with Kirchen and fellow Airman Dr. John Tichy, looms among the largest.

Partners in rhythm and rhyme since their days in Kirchen’s post-Commander Cody band, the Moonlighters, de Lone connected Kirchen to Nick Lowe, with whom he’s since recorded and toured the world. Lowe, who popularized pub rock in Brinsley Schwarz and wrote some of Elvis Costello’s biggest hits, introduced Kirchen to Costello, who featured Kirchen in his band at a Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival — and even named the band after Kirchen’s Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods album. And so on.

De Lone’s name appears in credits on half of Cat Out of the Bag’s tracks; unfortunately, he passed away before it was finished. But Kirchen is thankful they got to spend so much quality time working on it together. His album dedication reads, “to the memory of my mentor and dear pal … always and forever.” 

As we all do eventually, Kirchen has reached the stage in life where losses happen more frequently. His friend Joe New, who wrote the honky-tonking track, “Hamburger Man,” also passed recently, as did Jerry Douthet, the subject of “Highway to Heaven.” Actually, he departed before the song was written — and in fact, its hook line, “Another good’un burnin’ rubber on the highway to heaven,” came from another friend’s reaction to the Facebook obit Kirchen had posted. The song recounts a true event unrelated to Douthet’s passing (more or less), but it points to another important characteristic of Kirchen’s music: his wit.

Kirchen has always woven humor into his work, but in a world in which angst is ever-present and absurdity reigns, it helps to examine life — and even death — with a little levity.

“If we’re going to mourn the dead, we’ve got to cherish the living,” he observes.

“Listen, I’ll tell you what,” he adds. “I feel like I’m extraordinarily lucky. Just in general, when I grew up, what I got to see in my life … what a sweet spot we happened into.”

Kirchen was still in high school when he thumbed his way from Ann Arbor, Mich., to the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, and again in 1965. Watching Bob Dylan go electric altered his brain, rendering him incapable of envisioning a career that didn’t involve playing an electric guitar. Five years later, with the Airmen, he shared a stage with John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Stevie Wonder at a benefit for jailed MC5 manager John Sinclair. He helped pioneer outlaw country; Commander Cody’s 1974 album, Live From Deep in the Heart of Texas, recorded at Austin’s legendary Armadillo World Headquarters, sits on Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of All Time list. In addition to Lowe and Costello, Kirchen has worked with Emmylou Harris, Paul Carrack, Maria Muldaur, Danny Gatton and many other heroes and peers.

Of course, it takes more than luck to get where he has. It takes talent, too — and a rock ‘n’ roll soul ready to “crank it up to 11.” After referencing that Spinal Tap volume level in “Highway to Heaven,” Kirchen actually goes there on the defiant rocker, “Mercy Light.” Co-written with Farrell, the album closer (perhaps not coincidentally, track No. 11) features de Lone’s Hammond organ alongside Marty Muse’s pedal steel and Kirchen’s “stalwart bandmates”  — Jack Saunders and Rick Richards (aka Too Much Fun) — on bass and drums, respectively. 

From Richards’ thunderous opening beat to the full 10-second fade of Kirchen’s final ringing chord, “Mercy Light” is a testament to hanging in there. And to breaking free from whatever confines us. 

Website: https://www.billkirchen.com/

Tracks:
01. Cat Out of the Bag
02. City Mix
03. Her Gone is Her Goodbye
04. Hamburger Man
05. One More Ride
06. Inside My Baby’s Heart
07. Black Sheep
08. Honky-Tonk Hellfire
09. Highway to Heaven
10. Love’s Direction Home
11. Mercy Light