Rev. Billy C. Wirtz

continued

Wirtz did a stint as a professional wrestling manager, and many of his songs refer to this art form that dates back to the Middle Ages. He tells of falling in love with the dwarf wrestler Teenie Weenie Meanie, who "looked like Tammy Wynette left too long in my dryer." And then there's "Grandma versus the Crusher," a memoir of Wirtz's own grandmother and her enthusiastic responses to wrestling on TV. "Folks just love that song," says Wirtz. And they tell him their own Grandma-and-pro-wrestling stories.

So bring yours, if you've got 'em, to Wirtz's concert at the Ark on Friday, May 30. The Reverend says he does best in cities with high rates of violent crime, but I'm betting we've got enough unconventional souls here to get him cooking.   

[Originally published in May, 2003.]