The Reverend Billy C. Wirtz is a true force of nature, as any true believer of the House of Polyester Worship (over which he presides) will tell you. From the moment he sits down at the piano and lights into his Southern old-time gospel and blues with a twist, this goateed, tattooed tongue-in-cheek "reverend" spreads the gospel like nobody's business. In the words of one Washington Post critic, "Wirtz's throwaway gags would be show-stopping punch lines in anyone else's act, but Wirtz glides right over them like a revved-up Robin Williams at a Steinway." With puns flying as fast as his fingers, the "Rev" plays masterly boogie-woogie and barrelhouse riffs while holding forth on subjects as diverse as the perennial question, W.W.E.D.? (What Would Elvis Do?) and the potential for a mouthful of Wonder Bread to achieve a soulful blues intonation in "How I Learned To Sing the Blues (the Wonder Bread of You)."

His latest CD, Rev Elation, features live versions of enduring classics like "Grandma's At The Wheel" and "Mennonite Surf Party," but there's clearly no substitute for that exalted state known as "being in the presence."