Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones

Sun Jul 21, 2024        6:30pm

• Venue Website:

  https://thesirenmorrobay.com/

• Artist Website:

  https://www.davealvin.net/

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When Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore made the album
Downey To Lubbock together in 2018, they wrote the title track as a sort of mission statement. “I
know someday this old highway’s gonna come to an end,” Alvin sings near the song’s
conclusion. Gilmore answers: “But I know when it does you’re going to be my friend.”
Six years later, they’re serving notice that the old highway hasn’t ended yet. “We’re still
standing, no matter what you might hear,” they sing on “We’re Still Here,” the final track to their
new album Texicali. Due out XXX on Yep Roc Records, Texicali continues to bridge the distance
between the two troubadours’ respective home bases of California (Alvin) and Texas (Gilmore).
The album’s geographic theme reflects Alvin’s repeated journeys to record in Central Texas with
Gilmore and the Austin-based backing band that has toured with the duo for the past few years.
The 11 songs on Texicali also connect the duo’s shared fondness for a broad range of American
music forms. On their own, both have been prominent artists for decades. A philosophical
songwriter with a captivating, almost mystical voice, Gilmore co-founded influential Lubbock
group the Flatlanders in the early 1970s. Alvin first drew attention as a firebrand guitarist and
budding young songwriter with Los Angeles roots-rockers the Blasters in the early 1980s.
Gilmore is primarily known for left-of-center country music, while Alvin’s compass points largely
toward old-school blues. But there’s a lot of ground to cover beyond those foundations, and both
artists also are well-known for transcending genre limitations. So it’s not surprising that they’ve
spiked Texicali with cosmic folk narratives, deep R&B grooves and even swinging reggae
rhythms. “There’s such a strange variety through the whole thing,” Gilmore says. “And I love
that.”
They’re both quick to credit the musicians who joined them in the studio as crucial to the sound
and spirit of the album. On Downey To Lubbock, they recorded primarily in Los Angeles with a
crew that included ringers such as the late Don Heffington on drums and Van Dyke Parks on
accordion. This time, though, Alvin’s longtime rhythm section of drummer Lisa Pankratz and
bassist Brad Fordham played a larger role, along with guitarist Chris Miller and keyboardist
Bukka Allen. “After the time we spent touring, Jimmie and I became members of this band,”
Alvin says. “The band can play just about anything, which the album shows off.”
Texicali also found Alvin and Gilmore increasingly focusing on original songs. Among them are
“Trying To Be Free,” which Gilmore wrote more than 50 years ago; “Southwest Chief,” a
collaboration between Alvin and the late Bill Morrissey; and “Death of the Last Stripper,” which
Alvin wrote with Terry Allen and his wife Jo Harvey Allen.
Just as important, however, are the choices they made for non-original material. The covers on
Texicali include “Roll Around” by Gilmore’s longtime friend Butch Hancock; “Broke Down
Engine” and “Betty And Dupree” from blues greats Blind Willie McTell and Brownie McGhee,