26 Days On The Road
This album from a package tour of Hightone labelmates sounds less like highlights from individual artists and more like a working band. Veteran road warriorsBill Kirchen,Redd Volkaert,Dallas Wayne, andJoe Goldmarkjoin forces (with Kirchen's rhythm section) for some hard-twanging roadhouse interplay. They trade licks on the likes of Volkaert's "She Loves Anything That Swings" and vocals on the album-opening "Truck Drivin' Man," one of three studio tracks from the otherwise live collection. The set ends, as every Kirchen performance must, with an extended revival of "Hot Rod Lincoln" from hisCommander Codydays, with the guitarist paying encyclopedic tribute to dozens of idols fromJimi HendrixtoJohnny Cash. Wayne plumbs the depths of barroom misery on a couple of ballads--his own "The Stuff Inside" andJohnny Paycheck's "In Memory of a Memory"--while steel guitarist Goldmark shows a playful eclecticism on "Wacky Walk." The results are better than a tour souvenir, though not quite the same as being there.--Don McLeese