Folk heroes unite on Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s Odyssey across the American west ‘Downey to Lubbok’

The first-ever musical collaboration between kindred spirits and lifelong friends arrives June 1 via Yep Roc Records! Pre-Order the album HERE!

Listen to their single “Billy the Kid and Geonimo,” a brand-new original form of the record via LA Times

“It’s like we’ve been playing together since we were kids,” says Downey, California’s Dave Alvin of his musical partnership with Lubbock, Texas native Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Given their myriad of shared influences and the undeniable chemistry the pair exhibits on ‘Downey To Lubbock’ (June 1/Yep Roc Records), it seems hard to believe they haven’t.

Friends for over three decades, it took Alvin – the founder of seminal punk roots band The Blasters – and Gilmore, of the pioneering country-folk trio The Flatlanders, until last year to collaborate at long last. Embarking on a spontaneous twelve-city tour, the two seasoned veterans of the road found a mutual love of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues, Texas and West Coast Country Music, traditional folk and early Rock n Roll. Their duo sets could effortlessly drift from Merle Haggard to Sam Cooke to the Youngbloods, and the pair had so much fun they began planning a record as soon as the tour wrapped.

The result is ‘Downey To Lubbock,’ a twelve-song collection that takes on a diverse range of American music spanning nearly one hundred years. Along with ten covers, Dave Alvin wrote two originals for the record: the autobiographical title track and the fantastical “Billy The Kid and Geronimo.” The latter sees Alvin and Gilmore trade verses as their folk heroes have a prescient bar room debate on morality, oppression and injustice.

Stream “Billy The Kid and Geronimo” via the LA Times

‘Downey To Lubbock’ is available for pre-order now.

Elsewhere on ‘Downey to Lubbock,’ Alvin and Gilmore explore the musical pipeline between their home states, taking on the work of Texan-Californians Lightnin’ Hopkins, Brownie McGhee and Johnny “Guitar” Watson. Hopkins was a personal favorite of both men during his regular sets at Los Angeles’ Ash Grove in the 1960s. A wholly unique version of “Deportee – Plane Wreck at Los Gatos” breathes new life into a 1940s Woody Guthrie classic that is timelier than ever, while contemporary covers focus on friends of Gilmore and Alvin gone too soon: Steve Young, John Stewart and Chris Gaffney.

Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore will tour again this summer, with a full list of dates below.

‘DOWNEY TO LUBBOCK’ TRACKLIST

1. Downey To Lubbock
2. Silverlake
3. Stealin’, Stealin’
4. July, You’re A Woman
5. Buddy Brown’s Blues
6. The Gardens
7. Get Together
8. K.C. Moan
9. Lawdy Miss Clawdy
10. Billy The Kid and Geronimo
11. Deportee – Plane Wreck At Los Gatos
12. Walk On

DAVE ALVIN & JIMMIE DALE GILMORE TOUR DATES
May 23 – The Siren – Morro Bay, CA
May 24 – Fulton 55 – Frenso, CA
May 25 – Strawberry Fest – Grass Valley, CA
June 1 – Heights Theater – Houston, TX
June 2 – Antone’s – Austin, TX
June 3 – Kessler – Dallas, TX
June 7 – Word Café Live – Philadelphia, PA
June 8 – City Winery NYC – New York City, NY
June 9 – Narrows – Fall River, MA
Jun 10 – Boston, MA – City Winery
June 13 – Rams Head – Annapolis, MD
June 14 – Birchmere – Alexandria, DC
June 16 – Shea Theater – Turner Falls, MA
June 17 – Clearwater Fest – Croton-on-Hudson, NY
June 20 – Sportsmens Tavern – Buffalo, NY
June 22 – Valley Dale Ballroom – Columbus, OH
June 23 – Club Café – Pittsburgh, PA
June 24 – Mountain Stage – Charleston, WV
July 19 – Denver, CO – Oriental Theater
July 21 – Americana Music Fest – Telluride, CO
July 25 – Belly Up – Solana Beach, CA
July 26 – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
July 27 – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
July 28 – Moes – Santa Cruz, CA
July 29 – Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. – Chico, CA
Aug 31 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway
Sep 1 – Kansas City, MO – Knuckleheads
Sep 2 – Omaha, NE – Sunday Roadhouse at Waiting Room
Sep 6 – Minneapolis, MN – Dakota
Sep 8 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music
Sep 11 – Cincinnati, OH. Southgate House Revival
Sep 12 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark
Sep 14 – Toronto, ON – Great Hall
Sep 16 – Rochester, NY – JCC Hart Theater
Sep 28 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
Sep 29 – Seattle, WA – Triple Door
Sep 30 – Vancouver, BC – Imperial
November 16 – The Manship Theater – Baton Rouge, LA