Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones

About:  

DAVE ALVIN

Dave Alvin, Grammy winning songwriter, singer 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 small town of Downey and got his musical education by listening to the late night border radio stations, watching his older cousins play guitar and banjo, collecting dusty, rare 78s and sneaking in underage to bars with his older brother, Phil, to see their legendary blues heroes perform live and to learn from them firsthand.

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 in 1986, Dave Alvin has mixed his varied musical and literary influences into his own unique, updated version of traditional American music. 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 and The Knitters, while his songs have been recorded by performers like Los Lobos, Dwight Yoakam, James McMurtry, Buckwheat Zydeco, Joe Ely and Marshall Crenshaw as well as having been featured in various movies/TV shows including The Sopranos, Justified, Girls, Crybaby, Dusk To Dawn, The Wire and True Blood.

Alvin, who recently reunited with his brother Phil for two blues albums including the Grammy nominated Common Ground, can usually be found somewhere with his band, The Guilty Ones, on some interstate highway headed to his next gig.

JIMMIE DALE GILMORE

Jimmie Dale Gilmore has been writing and playing songs for more than 50 years. His music eludes categorization, blending elements of folk, rock, country, blues and bluegrass. His recordings have earned three Grammy nominations in both Contemporary Folk and Traditional Folk categories and he was named Country Artist of the Year three years running by Rolling Stone Magazine. His high and lonesome vocal style, coupled with sometimes mystical and poetic lyrics, has led to musical brandings such as Sagebrush Soul, Zen Country and Western Beat. Along with Joe Ely and Butch Hancock, Gilmore’s legendary band The Flatlanders has been credited as fathers of the Alt-country movement.

These days, Jimmie is still touring, singing and playing music, oftentimes with one or more of the big, beautiful, musical community he feels fortunate to be part of. In 2018, he’ll be playing with Dave Alvin, Colin Gilmore, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely (the Flatlanders), Carrie Rodriguez, Ruthie Foster (the Texas Troubadours), Bill Kirchen, Marty Muse (Highway 71), Christine Albert, Chris Gage, and others. He also enjoys leading songwriting workshops, writing songs and occasionally and randomly appearing in movies such as the Big Lebowski, Parkland and The Thing Called Love.

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Summer of the Arts Festivals:  

• 2019 Iowa Arts Festival