2026 Roots & Rhythm Main Stage:
Bill Kirchen-
Darrel Nulisch-
Organizing the Dead-
Miss Laurie Ann & the Saddletones-
Freight-
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Bill Kirchen- Titan of the Telecaster! Back by popular demand.
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.
Kirchen has toured the world with Lowe, who produced an album by Kirchen’s post-Airmen band, the Moonlighters, and Costello recruited Kirchen for high-profile gigs like the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival — and even named his festival band after Kirchen’s Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods album. Lowe appears on that 2006 album, and its 2010 follow-up, Word to the Wise, along with Costello, Maria Muldaur, Dan Hicks and other luminaries.
Now those albums, plus Kirchen’s third Proper Records release, 2013’s Seeds and Stems, are being combined with three bonus tracks from Transatlantica, his 2016 project with pub-rock progenitor Austin de Lone, as a two-CD retrospective titled The Proper Years. Waxworks, is a vinyl best-of version of the full collection.
A well-balanced mix of engaging originals and wonderfully rendered covers, The Proper Years admirably conveys Kirchen’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. (MC5 manager/activist John Sinclair got them a dealon the ESP-Disk label, home of Sun Ra, but the band turned it down.)
Somewhere between steering Commander Cody’s “Hot Rod Lincoln” into a top-10 hit and scoring a Grammy nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance, Kirchen dubbed his sound “dieselbilly,” wrapping his fondness for country’s truck-driving song subgenre (as in big rigs, not pickups), its intersection with the Bakersfield Sound and his own name into one memorable moniker.
Kirchen’s right-place-at-the-right-time career has put him at the forefront of many musical movements, including outlaw country; Commander Cody’s 1974 album, Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas, recorded at Austin’s legendary Armadillo World Headquarters, made Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of All Time list.
But whatever label Kirchen’s music wears, it’s always notable for its balance of high-octane energy and deft understatement. There’s no leadfoot excess; Kirchen’s all about finesse — a sensibility absorbed from the symphonies and Broadway musicals his parents loved, along with the orchestral works he played as a school-band trombonist. Through another major influence, Interlochen Center for the Arts summer camp counselor David Siglin (who would go on to run famed Ann Arbor venue the Ark), Kirchen became immersed in folk traditions and learned to love the “big, sonorous tones” of an undistorted guitar. “I was more interested in sounding like Doc Watson than Eric Clapton,” admits Kirchen, 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.
It’s fitting that this collection begins with his ode to that Telly-modeled “stick of wood” he calls “the bicycle of the electric guitar —the most efficient way to get from point A to point B.” That song also serves as exhibit A in a collection showcasing a central facet of Kirchen’s songwriting: his wit. If there’s a laugh to be reached for — or stooped to —Kirchen’s goin’ for it; you don’t survive years in a band named Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, or drop album titles like Seeds and Stems, without possessing a gleefully subversive, double-entendre-loving funny bone. “I like music where at least someone onstage is smiling sometimes, fer crissake,” jokes Kirchen, who’s often grinning happily when he’s not busy singing.
But for every injection of humor, there’s an equal dose of heart (and in some cases, heartbreak). And songs like “Tell Me the Reason” or “Get a Little Goner” illustrate another truism: Kirchen often sets the saddest or mostbiting lyrics to the jauntiest melodies. Those two were cowritten by his wife, Louise; “Goner” also features frequent contributor Sarah Brown (coincidentally also raised in Ann Arbor).
Kirchen likes collaborating; on Word to the Wise, a musical reminiscence of sorts, he tapped several favorite artists to join him, carefully selecting or writing songs for each. In the liner notes, he explains, “The criteria we used were that you had to be A) someone I had actually played with, either on stage or record, and B) not dead yet.” Sadly, Norton Buffalo, who played harmonica with the Airmen and Moonlighters, passed away shortly after recording “Valley of the Moon” — in which Kirchen revisits scenes of his early life with Louise on a trip to attend a funeral (for Hacienda Brother Chris Gaffney, another musical mate). Dan Hicks, who delivered a note-perfect duet on the title tune — written for him —died in 2016. But as of this writing, Lowe, Costello, Maria Muldaur, Paul Carrack, original Asleep at the Wheel vocalist Chris O’Connell and Commander Cody (aka George Frayne) are still very much with us.
Kirchen’s entertaining liner notes explain his connection to each, tracing many of these relationships directly to longtime collaborator and “mainman” Austin de Lone, who appears on all three solo albums and shares billing on Transatlanticana. Philadelphia-born keyboardist de Lone and his band, Eggs Over Easy, moved to England in 1970, urged by Jimi Hendrix’s manager, Chas Chandler. Their rootsy mix of blues, country and rock caught on — and germinated the pub rock movement, whose acolytes included Brinsley Schwarz, in which Lowe played bass. In 1972, de Lone moved to California, where he met Kirchen. Years later, de Lone wound up joining the Moonlighters and introducing Kirchen to Lowe, who produced the band’s 1983 album, Rush Hour (and introduced Kirchen to Costello). That album was engineered by Paul Riley, who eventually would produce all four of Kirchen’s Proper Records albums.
A devoted Anglophile, thanks to two aunts who married Brits, Kirchen began recording for the label after owner Malcolm Mills promised, “I’m going to give you the best deal you’ve had in 25 years.” He did, too. Mills not only supports Kirchen’s recorded output, he also supports the guitarist on stage, right alongside bassist Riley. “Where else do you get a record company where the owner plays drums, the producer plays bass, and they tour with you?” Kirchen says of his good friends. “They’re the best.”
That’s just another twist in an incredible career trajectory set in motion, according to Kirchen, by two pivotal events: the 1964 and ’65 Newport Folk Festivals. As a high-school kid on a quest to catch Mississippi John Hurt, he thumbed to the first one, then went back the following year — and witnessed Dylan going electric. “That pretty well blew away the competition for what I was going to do before, or if, or when I grew up,” he says of those experiences.
Five years later, he found himself sharing a bill with John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Stevie Wonder, when Commander Cody and the Airmen, who’d formed in Ann Arbor, played a benefit for Sinclair after he got 10 years for two joints. A mere 50 years later, Kirchen’s still having a blast. He’s even planning another tour with Riley and Mills. But releasing this package, he says, “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.”
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Darrel Nulisch
Darrell Nulisch (Dallas, Texas) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. A
two-time Grammy Award Nominee, Darrell was a key member of The James Cotton
Band, founding member of Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets and member of Ronnie
Earl and The Broadcasters. Nulisch’s repertoire incorporates soul combined with R&B
and Chicago blues, redesigned to complement his distinctive vocals.
Nulisch was raised listening to Texas radio, soaking in the sounds of soul, blues and
R&B. In 1978 he was a founding member of Anson Funderburgh’s Rockets and sang
with them until 1985. He was then part of Mike Morgan’s Crawl, before moving to
Massachusetts and joining up with Ronnie Earl’s Broadcasters in 1988. He began his
solo career late in 1990, relocating to Boston.
James Cotton then asked him to sing with Cotton’s band on tour, after Cotton had lost
his own voice. Nulisch recorded and toured with James Cotton for 10 years and sang
on James Cotton’s critically acclaimed and Grammy Award Winning release “Cotton
Mouth Man”.
Darrell Nulisch, renowned for his captivating “blue-eyed” soul and blues vocals takes
center stage, showcasing his powerful voice and exceptional harmonica skills rooted in
the heart of Texas. Supported by a stellar, world class lineup featuring guitarist
Chris Vitarello (Vanessa Collier, Jimmy Mcgriff, Bruce Katz), organist Dave Limina
(B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Ronnie Earl), drummer Lorne Entress (Mary Chapin
Carpenter, Ronnie Earl, Big Al Anderson), and bassist Mike Law (Kim Wilson, Lurrie
Bell, Jerry Portnoy), this quintet promises an unparalleled evening of pure blues and
soul.
Video link: https://youtu.be/jVfESC-hOHg?si=YoTq0YkyKA5lP7_U
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Organizing the Dead
An Organ Trio reimagines Grateful Dead classics and more with a soulful twist—grooving through jazzy improvisations, deep pocket rhythms, and organ-fueled jams that breathe new life into timeless psychedelic anthems.
Micheal Bram is a drummer, singer, harmonica and guitar player. He has been the drummer and musical director on multiple tours with Grammy winning artist, Jason Mraz since 2007. He is also the drummer and vocalist for The Weight Band featuring members of Woodstock NY’s iconic “The Band” and “Levon Helm Band”
He has performed at venues across the world including Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Ryman Auditorium, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden etc… has appeared multiple times on Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen, The Today Show as well as international television in Canada, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Michael has performed with an amazing variety of musicians including music legends Willie Nelson, Levon Helm, Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur, John Sebastian, Pop musicians Colbie Caillat, Zac Brown Cristina Perri Jason Mraz, John Popper, G.Love and special Sauce, Joan Osbourne and many more. Michael also specializes in Blues and American roots music and has performed with some of the best in the genre (Johnny Nicholas, Steve Riley, Augie Myers, Bill Kirchen, Steve Guyger, Mark Hummel, Dennis Gruenling, Dean Shot, Dave Gross, Albert Castiglia, Larry Campbell, Jimmy Vivino, Amy Helm, Chris O’Leary, Cindy Cashdollar, Steve Kimock and more)
Chris Vitarello is a gifted guitarist and a blues hall of famer.Inducted on November 14th 2013.Nominee and performer at the 32nd Blues Music Awards.(Chris O’Leary Band best new artist) and a Blues Blast winner. (Chris O’Leary Band 2013)
While Chris chooses blues to be the main part of his career,he also branches out and leans toward the jazzier side of things.
Chris also is a Worship Director at Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel, Connecticut, where he helps facilitate musical direction and guidance for four campuses and over 60 volunteer musicians.
“Vitarello’s guitar solos display a lyricism and inventiveness that’s reminiscent of the late Grant Green” (John Kleinman- Elmore Magazine 2018)
Matt Zeiner– It took little convincing for Matt to leave college and pile into a van to tour with Matt “Guitar” Murphy of Blues Brothers fame. Matt Murphy was Zeiner’s first serious education in the blues, but Murphy was more than just your average Bluesman. Matt’s band was made up of himself and a group of top-notch New York jazz musicians. The band played everything from hard jazz-fusion to straight blues. Murphy, himself an excellent jazz player, encouraged the band to stretch out and play whatever they wanted. It was all about the music and the wonderful fusion that comes from having such a diverse group of musicians.
Then in 2000 Zeiner got a call. He was told that Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers Band) was putting a band together and needed a keyboard player and vocalist. Zeiner jumped at the opportunity and got on the first plane to meet Dickey. Matt’s musicianship and sound appealed to Dickey, who offered Matt to join them and hit the tour circuit with the new band.
Matt said he came to realize that he had found a kindred spirit in Dickey, especially in terms of songwriting. Dickey picked two of Matt’s tunes and asked him to rework parts of “Tombstone Eyes” so that Matt could sing the tune with the kind of conviction that such a piece of music demanded. Matt was able to add his own personal note to the tune without sacrificing the artistic intent and meaning that Dickey was so eager to put forth.
After four years on the road, Zeiner was ready to come home and focus on his own growing material. He dedicated himself to recording in his home studio and soon formed his own band. Propelled by 2007 release, Live on a Summer Night, the band performed to live audiences throughout the Northeast, sharing the stage with Johnny Winter, Roomful of Blues, Jamie McLean, and Dickey Betts and Great Southern. The recording drew critical acclaim for the band and swelled the ranks of their fan base.
The band stepped back from touring for a year to make some changes and give Matt a chance to collaborate with some other veteran artists, such as Melvin Sparks and CS&N guitarist Jeff Pevar. During the hiatus there emerged some new players and new material for the band, the product of which has spawned work on another album. An ambitious recording effort so far, the project already demonstrates Zeiner’s knack for writing infectious melodies complemented by tight arrangements from his latest players. Together, they tear into a catalog of original soul/R&B tunes, some funky vintage blues and a fresh take on some well-known rock standards.
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Miss Laurie Ann & the Saddletones
Miss Laurie Ann started writing songs at an early age and has developed an extensive collection of tight, well-crafted songs that tell stories of love, come and gone. She refers to her style of music as Rock-Boppin-Country, combining elements of traditional country, rockabilly, and the blues.
The second album from Miss Laurie Ann & The SaddleTones, Ease My Mind, showcases her American Music
influences. Produced by legendary guitarist and songwriter Dave Gonzalez of The Paladins, the album covers
a wide range of roots styles.
Miss Laurie Ann has been performing with her band, The SaddleTones, for over 15 years. They have
performed at honky-tonks such as the legendary Rodeo Bar in New York City, theaters such as The Sellersville
Theater and festivals such as The Lancaster Roots & Blues Festival. Along the way the band has shared the
stage with various artists including Rock & Roll Hall of fame member Wanda Jackson, The Blasters, Reckless
Kelly, Dale Watson, Wayne Hancock, Dave Gonzalez, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, Nikki Hill and others.
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Freight
Freight is a 5 piece, original Alt Country / Rural Rock / Roots band based out of Ithaca, NY. The band is comprised of veteran musicians who individually have shared stages with the likes of John Prine, The Mavericks, Leon Russell, James McMurtry and many other roots music heavyweights. Founded by midwest transplant JP Payton in early 2020, Freight has risen to the fore of the region’s growing Americana landscape. Drawing comparisons to the art rock of Wilco, the psychedelia of The Grateful Dead and the songcraft of Jason Isbell, Freight is both traditionally familiar and sonically adventurous. Freight’s debut album, Hard Worker, released in October 2022 on Switchyard Records, has been met with critical acclaim. Their sophmore release Old Bones is garnering rave reviews
“Old Bones seamlessly and flawlessly blends stirring old-school songcraft with strikingly stylish production. Earthy and ethereal, raw-boned and rich, immersive and impeccably crafted, this 10-song set comfortably inhabits the sweet spot between country, folk, roots-rock and Cosmic American Music.” -Tinnitist
“In the Cosmic American tradition of looking beyond the grave and past the atmosphere, FREIGHT have mastered an art form of transcendental country.” – Americana UK
“This is a recording of skilled musicians and friends enjoying what they do. In so many ways it is like a debut album, but by grown-ups, and it sounds like they had such fun bringing it to life together.” – Americana UK
“The debut album, Hard Worker, sometimes reminds us of the long-awaited Jason Molina’s way of making songs. Although with a greater optimism in the lyrics, Payton’s voice is close to the emotional tone of the late singer.” – Dirty Rock Magazine
“Hard Worker’s 10 songs traverse a wide musical terrain, blending country, funk, rock and psychedelic influences with traces of Wilco, The Grateful Dead, John Prine, Dave Alvin and other roots-music staples – all woven together to a blue collar backdrop for Payton’s warm baritone vocals and deeply personal lyrics.” – Jim Catalano WXXI
Payton’s plaintively poetic and confessional songwriting belies a nuanced and empathetic understanding of the human condition. Drummer and Knoxville native Bowman Townsend (Black Lillies) has toured nationally showcasing his pocket centric groove, and veteran bassist Mike Brando (Janet Batch) rounds out the rhythm section with a commanding sense of tone earned from decades of professional gigging. Oklahoma native Steve Streetman, brings a decidedly red dirt feel to the slide guitar, and Peter Glanville, is renowned as one of the most in demand melodic guitar players in upstate New York. All told, Freight’s groove is seasoned, road-tested, and danceable fun. Recent highlights include several successful regional tours thru the midwest and Northeast with appearances at main stage Ithaca Fest, Fall Down Fest, City Winery Pittsburgh and the famed Purple Fiddle in Thomas, West Virginia.