Are you familiar with Hot Rod Lincoln, the 1972 top ten hit by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen? What a great bit of rockabilly that achieved commercial success! And the fabulous guitar riff that propelled the song was provided by Bill Kirchen, one of the founding members of that legendary group.
Flash forward from the early seventies to the mid-nineties, two decades after the Commander Cody band had disbanded. In the interim, Kirchen had built a worldwide reputation as a master of the Telecaster guitar. He was based in the DC area and had earned critical praise and awards with his back-up group, Too Much Fun (Johnny Castle and Jack O’Dell). I learned about him primarily through articles in the Washington Post and in music publications, as the Internet was in its infancy. I bought his available CDs, but I really wanted to see him play in person.
Then, unbelievably, it was announced that Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun would be coming to a recreation center/splash park near to my Bowie home to perform as part of a county-sponsored free summer evening concert series. Wow! On the appointed night, we packed up a cooler and took a blanket and beach chairs. We got there early to beat the crowds. As we ate our picnic dinner, there was almost no one else around. Looking about, the surroundings did not seem to be conducive to a top flight musical experience. The stage was a portable one that evidently had been transported as a trailer and been positioned at the bottom of a slight hill. This was definitely not a Red Rocks Amphitheater type of concert situation.
By the time the show started, there were at most twenty-five audience members scattered about on blankets or sitting in beach chairs. I was astounded that so few would show up to watch an internationally-acclaimed guitarist perform. Probably, I also feared that the performance would be less than hoped for because of the small turnout.
Bill Kirchen soon put those fears to rest. He gave a rousing show – two full sets. It even included one song where he put down his guitar, took up his trombone, and then paraded through the audience on the hill wailing away while Too Much Fun provided backing from the mini-stage. The entire concert experience was amazing. When it was over, I stepped up to thank him and to ask him to sign a CD that I had brought with me. Of course, he obliged and even fawned over our daughter, Katy, who was five at that time.
I asked Bill about the turnout, and he was very generous, stating that the county was just getting the series started, and it was not surprising to see a smaller audience. In addition, I noted that he had put on such a great show even though there were so few of us watching. He said something about the fact that the size of the audience didn’t matter. They always had to do their best. There might have been those watching who had never heard their music before. By the way, as I recall, Bill and TMF played a regular gig later that night at a tavern in the metro area.
I became a devoted Bill Kirchen fan for life that night, and have seen him perform many times. He continues to create great music – rock and roll, country, rockabilly, Americana – and bring joy to those who listen to it.
And his perspective on doing the best possible job has resonated beyond that tiny portable stage. We all tend to strive for our best work when there is a big and/or important audience watching. There is a temptation, though, to do work that is “good enough” in other circumstances. In my mind, “good enough” equates to satisfactory, acceptable or adequate. It is a level of accomplishment that is passable but that is not laudable. Some situations might seemingly call for a measured level of effort that produces a result that is satisfactory but not praiseworthy. One should resist such an approach to work.
It is far better to always endeavor to produce outstanding results regardless of the context. One might not always be able to achieve a level of excellence. However, having superior performance as a constant goal is a pathway to a successful career and life.