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Dave Alvin, Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and
self-described "barroom guitarist," is widely considered to be one
of the pivotal founders of the current Americana music scene.
Since forming the highly influential roots rock/R+B band The
Blasters, with his brother Phil in 1979, and throughout his long and
critically acclaimed solo career, Dave Alvin has mixed his varied
musical and literary influences into his own unique, updated version
of traditional American music. Combining elements of blues, folk,
R+B, rockabilly, Bakersfield country and garage rock and roll with
lyrical inspiration from local writers and poets like Raymond
Chandler, Gerald Locklin and Charles Bukowski, Alvin says that his
songs are "just like California. A big, messy melting pot."
Dave Alvin's 30 years of recordings and live performances prove his
statement. From the loud, aggressive rock and roll of The Blasters
to the contemplative acoustic storytelling of his solo albums, KING
OF CALIFORNIA and BLACKJACK DAVID, and from the traditional folk of
his Grammy winning CD, PUBLIC DOMAIN, to the electric blues of his
ASHGROVE CD, Alvin has always managed to unite seemingly disparate
genres into a cohesive vision of contemporary roots music. On his
two most recent recordings, DAVE ALVIN AND THE GUILTY WOMEN and WEST
OF THE WEST (A Tribute To Native California Songwriters) Alvin
continues to expand his musical range by adding doo wop, western
swing, surf, norteno music and psychedelic jams to his already
eclectic mix. "I have a pretty broad definition of folk music,"
Alvin laughs. "To put it simply, there are two types of folk music.
There's quiet folk music and there's loud folk music. I like to play
both."
A fourth generation Californian, Dave Alvin grew up in Downey,
California as the local landscape quickly evolved from orange groves
and dairy farms to tract homes and freeways. On songs like Dry
River, his lyrics reflect the sadness and alienation brought about
by these dramatic environmental changes while many of Alvin's other
songs are filled with working class people trapped in what he calls,
"the tough, confusing no-mans-land where dreams collide with the
harsh realities of day to day living." In songs like King Of
California, Out Of Control and California Snow, Alvin's characters
struggle to somehow survive in the not-so-Promised Land of
California. Much of Alvin's sympathies and world view were inherited
from his parents. His father, Cass, was a union organizer who rode
the rails out to California during the Great Depression and his
mother, Nana, was born and raised in the small San Joaquin Valley
farming town of Reedley, He also learned empathy first hand from the
elder blues performers who befriended and mentored Alvin and his
brother Phil when they were young boys sneaking into bars to hear
the music they loved. In songs like Ashgrove and Boss Of The Blues,
Alvin not only celebrates these early heroes for their musical
legacy but also for the important lessons they taught him about
love, hope and survival.
Dave Alvin's songs have been recorded by a who's who of contemporary
roots artists from Los Lobos, Little Milton and Joe Ely to Dwight
Yoakam, James McMurtry and X. His songs have also been featured in
many movies and television shows including The Sopranos, True Blood,
The Wire, Six Feet Under, Crybaby, Miss Congeniality and From Dusk
To Dawn.
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Artist's Web Site
See a YouTube clip from Dave Alvin & The Guilty Ones
Presented In Conjunction With Landshark Entertainment
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