Bill Kirchen

Check this out for just a partial cast list of guest singers and players: Elvis Costello, Maria Muldaur, Nick Lowe, Paul Carrack, Dan Hicks. Veteran guitar ace and singer-songwriter Kirchen has worked with them all, though he's best known as the co-founder of the legendary Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen. Guest duets are featured on about half the songs, and the results are almost always superb. Carrack and Lowe combine for a knockout version of Merle Haggard's "Shelly's Winter Love," while Costello comes up with one of his best vocal performances in years on the riveting "Man In The Bottom Of The Well," a tune featuring fiery fretwork from Kirchen. That's one of eight Kirchen originals, and his strengths as a versatile songwriter are neatly captured here. The title track (featuring Hicks) has a jaunty jug band feel and Chris O'Connell (Asleep at the Wheel) shines on a version of Roger Miller's "Husbands And Wives." You'd be wise to investigate this gem.