Reverend Horton Heat roar into Phoenix’s Rhythm Room this weekend

While it is true, as Shakespeare once wrote, that the world is a stage and the men and women merely players, Jim Heath isn't playing any ordinary role.

In nearly 40 years of performing under the moniker Reverend Horton Heat, Heath — who usually takes the stage in retro suits and armed with his weapon of choice, his glossy, red signature Gretsch 6120RHH — and his band have amassed approximately 5,500 live raucous performances while serving up a cocktail of rockabilly, psychobilly, country, lounge rock and blues that has won fans the world over.

The Reverend Horton Heat discography covers a wide span of genre-bending numbers such as the danceable, rockabilly “Wiggle Stick,” the punk-metal noir of “The Devil’s Chasing Me,” the demonic guitar-shredding riffs on “Big Sky,” the country satire of "Please Don’t Take the Baby to the Liquor Store” and the double-entendre-loaded “Let Me Teach You How to Eat” (used in a Subway commercial).

The latest offering from the band is "Stars Align," a two-song EP that lends its name to Reverend Horton Heat's current tour, which stops at The Rhythm Room this Saturday and Sunday.

Phoenix New Times recently caught up with Heath before his arrival in Arizona.

Phoenix New Times: Jim, you've played so many different venues across the U.S. How do you choose a venue for each tour now?
Jim Heath: The reason that I go to any venue is because of the email my manager gets. I have almost zero input to where the band plays. We’re a band that never really nitpicks where we’re playing. It’s a big deal if I turn down a gig.

You've come to know Rhythm Room owner and veteran blues harpist Bob Corritore over the years, and even played with him on stage a few years back. But there are so many venues in this town.
There’s really good venues all over Arizona and in Phoenix. I love Bob Corritore. He’s a really awesome guy. Not only is he a great musician and songwriter, but he also helps a lot of blues artists.

Over the past few years, you've been finishing shows with a reved-up version of the classic Motorhead song “Ace of Spades.” Are you still ending shows with that number and how did that relationship with the late Lemmy Kilmister develop?
I might be doing that, but there’s gonna be more after that. When Motorhead really got big, and the song "Ace of Spades" hit the scene, they were kind of like a little AC/DC except a little bit more punk. They had a great rock sound. Lemmy was a great singer; he had that edgy-type voice, that gravel voice, and great songwriting.

Later on, he became a fan of the Reverend Horton Heat and came to our shows; I then began to realize that he was influenced by a lot of the same stuff that influenced me — the midcentury rock 'n' roll. He loved Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis.

Psychobilly has been a staple part of The Reverend Horton Heat's enduring success. There are U.S. press and fans alike who consider you the godfather of psychobilly, but it started long before that, yes?
There was this whole scene over in Europe, this psychobilly scene that started in the late '70s. And so, I wrote the song “Psychobilly Freakout” and the next thing you know, people were saying I invented psychobilly, but psychobilly was a scene that had been going on in Europe for 20 years.

Probably the first band was The Meteors, and then there were the others that came in that era: Guana Batz, the Batmobile, Demented Are Go, the Phantom Rockers. There was quite a list of bands, too many to list, that really kind of started the whole thing.

Tell us more about the possible follow-up to "Roots of the Rev. Vol. 1," which was an album of classic rockabilly covers of Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent and others.
That’s why I decided to name it "Vol. 1," because our roots are really too many to fit onto one record anyway. There are some artists that we didn’t touch on that are super-big influences on me and Jimbo and the band. We gotta have Jerry Lee (Lewis) in there You know I played guitar with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins a little bit, so I’d like to do a Screamin’ Jay Hawkins song. We also had a connection with Sid King and the Five Strings, a local Dallas band.

With the year-round tour schedule, it must be hard to find time to do all the other things you want to do, I imagine.
I’d like to do "Vol. 2," I just don’t know when, or if it will happen, 'cause really, I’m in a cycle right now. Man, I don’t have enough time for everything, but we need to be working on a new Reverend Horton Heat record of original songs.

You're one of the most prolific modern-day tour band road warriors. How do you maintain that so consistently after three decades?
I just get into character. You know I enjoy playing music more now than I did when I was younger because there’s a lot less pressure. When you’re a young band, there’s kind of a lot of pressure — every gig is a pass-fail. ... I feel really blessed to do what I do.

The Reverend Horton Heat. With Dale Watson and Jason D. Williams. 8 p.m. Saturday, March 2, and 6 p.m. Sunday, March 3. The Rhythm Room, 1019 E. Indian School Road. Saturday is sold out; tickets for Sunday are $35 in advance and $45 day of show. Find tickets and information on the Rhythm Room website. And for more Phoenix concerts, visit the Phoenix New Times concert calendar.