TeaFlix Interview with Bill Lynch

Born in Lawton, Oklahoma into a military family, Bill Lynch grew up everywhere from Tokyo to London and across the continental United States. While living in England, at a time when the Beatles were still playing Hamburg and Liverpool, Bill picked up the guitar at age 11 and never put it down.

He played in bands throughout high school and college before leaving the Department of Visual Art at the University of Kansas to pursue music full time. His first serious band, Together, opened for Vanilla Fudge and Johnny Winter, and played the 1969 Kansas City Fun Fair alongside Iron Butterfly, The Steve Miller Band, Wilson Pickett, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and The Cowsills. The band even performed on second base at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium before a Yankees–Royals game.

After Together came Tide and other projects including The Bill Lynch Band and a long-running duo with harmonica ace Lee McBee. Lynch and McBee shared stages with Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Les McCann, Paul Butterfield, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells.

In 1985 Lynch rode a motorcycle to Los Angeles. Soon after arriving he saw Jack Mack and the Heart Attack at Trancas in Malibu, met drummer Claude Pepper, guitarist Andrew Kastner, and bassist David Lee Watson, and together they formed Pocket Rocket, landing a weekly residency at Josephina’s on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.

When blues harp legend John “Juke” Logan sat in one night, he and Lynch launched the project Logan and Lynch, performing across Southern California and opening for Leon Russell, Edgar Winter, Los Lobos, Taj Mahal, Robben Ford, and David Lindley.

Over the years Lynch also performed with artists including Bonnie Raitt and Kansas legend Mike Finnigan. Though a three-time Kansas Music Hall of Fame inductee, he rarely pursued studio session work, though opportunities came along: singing demos for legendary songwriter Gerry Goffin, performing with the Woody Herman Orchestra, playing shows with Jerry Lee Lewis and Bo Diddley, appearing on TV in Newcastle with Noel Redding, PP Arnold, and Alan Price, and singing the theme for the Showtime sitcom It’s Garry Shandling’s Show.

Bill and his wife Maggie, a life coach and entrepreneur, later decided to give something back to the LA music scene by opening The Write-Off Room in Woodland Hills, which quickly became one of the Valley’s most respected live music venues and a gathering place for world-class musicians.

After COVID closed the club, the Lynches purchased the iconic Oil Can Harry’s building in Studio City and reopened the Write-Off Room there two years later. The venue hosted everything from 18-piece big bands to songwriter nights, surprise guest appearances, and even performances by top comedians like Bill Burr.

One memorable night saw The Rolling Stones touring band play jazz versions of their songs. Another featured an extraordinary lineup of James Gadson, Abraham Laboriel, Paul Shaffer, Dean Parks, and George Doering performing with The Bill Lynch Band.

Although the club is now closing and will soon reopen as The Starlight Cabaret, Bill Lynch’s legacy remains clear. As both musician and venue creator, he helped preserve the intimate live-music experience in the Los Angeles music community.

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