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Dave Alvin, a Grammy Award winning songwriter, singer, producer and self described barroom guitarist, is considered by many to be one of the pivotal pioneers of Americana. A fourth generation Californian, Alvin grew up in the town of Downey and got his musical education by listening to late night border radio stations, watching his older cousins play guitar and banjo, collecting dusty, rare 78s, and sneaking underage into bars like the Ash Grove with his brother Phil to see their legendary blues heroes perform live and learn from them first hand.
Since forming the highly influential Roots Rock/R+B band The Blasters, with his brother in 1979, and through his long, critically acclaimed solo career after he left the group in1986, Dave Alvin has mixed his varied musical and literary influences into his own unique, updated version of traditional American music, with highlights including songs like “Fourth of July”, “Long White Cadillac”, “King of California”, “Harlan County Line” and “Marie Marie”. Combining blues, folk, rockabilly, Bakersfield country, surf and garage rock and roll with lyrical inspiration from writers like Raymond Chandler and John Steinbeck, Alvin says his songs are “like California…a big, messy, melting pot”. Alvin has recorded with such diverse artists as Bobby Rush, Tom Waits, John Mellencamp, Little Milton, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Dick Dale, Carolyn Wonderland, X and The Knitters, while his songs have been recorded by performers like Los Lobos, Dwight Yoakam, James McMurtry, Buckwheat Zydeco, Joe Ely, Marshall Crenshaw, Shakin’ Stevens, Tom Russell and Nanci Griffith. His music has well also been featured in various movies/TV shows including The Sopranos, Justified, Girls, Crybaby, Dusk To Dawn, The Wire and True Blood.
Special projects include Alvin reuniting with his brother Phil for two blues albums including the Grammy nominated Common Ground, a reunion album with alt/punk legends The Flesh Eaters, two albums with his Psych/Rock/Improvisational super group, The Third Mind, and two albums with beloved Texas Flatlander Jimmie Dale Gilmore including their 2024 release TexiCali,
Recent achievements include the 2022 release of his book New Highway: Selected Lyrics, Poems, Prose, Essays, Eulogies and Blues, and in 2023 he was honored with The Chris Strachwitz Legacy Award from The Arhoolie Foundation for his lifetime commitment to American Roots Music.
Dave can usually be found somewhere with his band, The Guilty Ones, performing in a barroom, or scribbling notes for his memoir in his journal while on some interstate highway headed to his next gig.
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