Dave Alvin - Biography
Dave Alvin has gone from being a member of several respected roots-rock, punk, and post-punk bands to becoming a distinctive singer/songwriter in the Americana genre. His long history as a performer and his eclectic musical tastes have made him one of the most respected and admired singer/songwriters on the scene today.
Dave Alvin was born on November 11, 1955 in Los Angeles, California, and raised in the suburb of Downey. The Alvin household was a musical one, and both Dave and his brother Phil enjoyed listening to the old blues, Cajun, rockabilly and pop music records their parents had. Soon the brothers were exploring music, especially older styles, themselves. They both learned to play instruments and joined local bands. The Alvin brothers were lucky enough to attend performances by legends such as T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner, Ray Campi, and Lee Allen —each of whom made indelible prints on the brothers’ developing musical taste. In the late 1970s, the brothers decided to form their own band that would honor some of the older styles of music that were currently out of fashion, while at the same time taking those styles forward. With Phil Alvin on guitar, harmonica, and vocals, Dave Alvin on guitar, and fellow Downey residents John Bazz on bass and Bill Bateman on drums, the four formed The Blasters in 1979.
The Blasters quickly made a name for themselves opening shows for everyone from local punk bands like X, Black Flag, The Gun Club, and The Screamers, to western swing revivalists Asleep at the Wheel. They even once opened for Queen. The group became a live sensation in their native Los Angeles, arguably kick-starting the city’s vibrant rockabilly scene, and cultivated a cult following in the rest of the United States and Europe. The band was also instrumental in introducing artists such as Los Lobos and Dwight Yoakum to the wider public by having them open for The Blasters early in their careers. The Blasters later included saxophonist Lee Allen, (one of the band’s idols), saxophonist Steve Berlin (who would later join Los Lobos), and pianist Gene Taylor. Dave Alvin recorded five albums with The Blasters — 1980’s American Music (Hightone), 1981’s The Blasters (Slash), 1982’s live album Over There: Live at the Venue, London (Slash), 1983’s Non Fiction (Slash), and 1985’s Hard Line (Slash) — before deciding to leave the band. Dave Alvin was disappointed that the group had never managed to break through to any kind of mainstream success and wanted to try his hand at other projects.
Even while Alvin was in The Blasters, he occasionally participated in side projects. Along with his fellow Blasters Steve Berlin and Bill Bateman, Alvin played on a couple of releases by Chris D.’s Los Angeles punk “supergroup” The Flesh Eaters, and also played guitar on a couple of tracks on The Gun Club’s third album, The Las Vegas Story (1984 Slash). After Alvin quit The Blasters, he briefly joined X as their lead guitarist after Billy Zoom left and played on their 1987 album, See How We Are (Elektra), before leaving to start work on his solo career. Alvin also became a member of X’s offshoot country band The Knitters, releasing two albums with the group — 1985’s Poor Little Critter on the Road (Slash) and 2005’s The Modern Sounds of The Knitters (Rounder). Dave Alvin released his first solo album in Europe in 1987 called Every Night About This Time (Diablo), which was released later in the year in the US under the title Romeo’s Escape (Columbia). The album was an eclectic mix of rock, country, and blues, and featured tracks he had recorded with The Blasters and X but put into a different musical setting. The album featured guest turns from such musicians as Tony Gilkyson, David Hidalgo, and Greg Leisz. Though the album’s eclecticism endeared it to discerning music lovers and critics, it didn’t translate into big sales. Due to the poor sales of Romeo’s Escape, Alvin was dropped from his contract with Columbia and later found a home at the Hightone label.
Alvin spent the next couple of years battling health problems and touring with friends Country Dick Montana and Mojo Nixon under the name the Pleasure Barons. He was helped along the way by royalties he earned after Dwight Yoakum scored a hit in 1989 with Alvin’s song “Long White Cadillac.” Alvin followed up Romeo’s Escape with the critically acclaimed 1991 album Blue Blvd. (Hightone), a more assured set of bluesy, country rockers that featured guests Hidalgo, Yoakum, and Lee Allen. Blue Blvd. was the start of a winning streak of recordings for the Hightone label throughout the 1990s and firmly established Alvin as a leading voice in the so-called No Depression/Americana movement. Alvin followed Blue Blvd. with 1993’s Museum of Heart (Hightone), which featured guests John Doe, Katy Moffatt, and Syd Straw. Alvin then stepped back from his more electric sound for his next album, 1994’s King of California (Hightone). With his earlier albums, Alvin’s voice had to compete against a louder rock sound. On King Of California he chose an acoustic approach, which in turn brought out more subtlety and shading in his voice and songwriting. Alvin’s next release was the live album Interstate City (1996 Hightone), recorded live in Austin, Texas with his back-up band the Guilty Men. Alvin returned to a more electric sound with his 1998 release Blackjack David (Hightone), which featured collaborations with Tom Russell and Chris Gaffney. Alvin showed his love for the old 78s and scratchy records of his youth with his next release, Public Domain: Songs From the Wild Land (2000 Hightone), which featured roadhouse versions of folk, blues, and country standards and obscurities. The album gained Alvin a wider audience after he received a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Folk Album that year. Alvin recorded one last album for Hightone, 2002’s raucous live set Out in California (Hightone), before signing with the Yep Roc label.
In 2002, Alvin reunited with his brother Phil, John Bazz, Bill Bateman, and Gene Taylor to play a series of Blasters shows in California in promotion of the collection Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings 1981-1985 (Rhino). A live album titled Trouble Bound (Hightone), chronicling the band back at full strength after so many years away, was also released in 2002. The group followed up with a series of reunion shows, and in 2004 they released the live album and DVD The Blasters Live: Going Home (Shout Factory). The concert footage includes the last of the band’s reunion shows featuring special guests such as Sonny Burgess, Billy Boy Arnold, and members of the LA doo-wop groups The Calvanes and The Medallions. Alvin returned to his solo career with a more electric, bluesy sound for his debut for Yep Roc, Ashgrove (2004 Yep Roc), which was named after the famed Southern California nightclub where Dave and his brother Phil had first seen many of their musical idols. Alvin followed up with The Great American Music Galaxy (Yep Roc) in 2005 and his tribute to other Californian songwriters such as Jackson Browne, John Fogerty, Los Lobos, Kate Wolf, Tom Waits, Brian Wilson, and Merle Haggard on the 2006 album West of the West (Yep Roc). A live album of a 1999 performance on the PBS television show Austin City Limits, titled Live From Austin, Tx. (New West) was released in 2007. Alvin continues to perform and record. In 2009 he released Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women, followed by Eleven Eleven in 2011. In 2014 he collaborated with his brother Phil on a tribute Lp to Big Bill Broonzy called Common Ground.