Seeing a different side of Bill Kirchen

You likely know his work even if you don’t know his face.

Bill Kirchen, formerly the guitar maestro behind Commander Cody, has performed with everyone from Elvis Costello to Emmylou Harris. Now the man whose guitar prowess made “Hot Rod Lincoln” a major hit in 1972 is turning the tables a bit, playing some of the songs that were among his earliest influences.

“Austin [de Lone] is flying out and we’re going to revisit some of our favorite rocking songwriters, including Bob Dylan and Nick Lowe,” Kirchen said. “It’s a bit more rocking, though we’ll certainly have some ballads.”

Those who know de Lone’s keyboard and guitar work with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Elvis Costello and Eggs Over Easy might not realize he has also played on some of Kirchen’s albums and produced the 1999 release “Raise a Ruckus.” Considering the two men’s longtime friendship and musical collaborations, it seems natural that de Lone musically join Kirchen as he revisits the songwriters that first influenced him.

“I was in a jug band and had done a few solo things with banjo and country blues,” Kirchen said of his earliest musical experience going back to his Ann Arbor, Mich., high school days, when his classmates included Iggy Pop and Bob Seger. “In 1964, I went to the Newport Folk Festival and that ruined me for normal work. It lit a fire under me … to get into music.”

Although Kirchen’s body of work is rich, he’s best known for inventing “dieselbilly,” which incorporates country, blues, rockabilly, western swing and boogie-woogie. For 20 years he lived in the D.C -area and played with Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun, which has included a host of well-known players — including bassist Johnny Castle of The Nighthawks — through the years.

In May, Kirchen will release a new album — “Word to the Wise” — that further showcases his musical diversity.

“It includes people I played with onstage and on recordings,” he said. “I didn’t want to just invite people [I knew casually] but to get those that have been really close to me musically through the years. All of these people have been close to me starting as far back as the 1960s.”

But despite his affection for various musical styles, don’t think “The Titan of the Telecaster” has forsaken “Hot Rod Lincoln.”

“To me I don’t look at it — ‘Hot Rod Lincoln’ or Commander Cody — as my definitive work,” Kirchen said. “I just don’t think in those terms about myself. … But I play it and, hey, I really enjoy it.”