Dave Alvin

A pillar of the alternative scene since the late 1970s, Dave Alvin founded the cult band The Blasters with his brother Phil Alvin, before devoting himself to his own career through a myriad of projects. Born in Downey, California, on November 11, 1955, he developed a passion for rock'n'roll in his youth, then for the punk movement, whose energy he picked up during his stint with The Flesh Eaters. Guitarist with The Blasters since 1979, he left the band in 1986 and played for a time with X and The Knitters, before recording his first solo album, Romeo's Escape, in 1987. His blues and country influences were to accompany him throughout his career, through collaborations such as Blue Blvd. (1991), Museum of Heart (1993), King of California (1994), Blackjack David (1998) and parallel ventures with his band Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men. After a final album for Hightone Records, Public Domain: Songs from the Wild Land (2000), a Grammy Award-winning selection of folk and blues covers, Dave Alvin moved to Yep Roc Records for Ashgrove (2004), followed by West of the West (2006) and Live from Austin, TX (2007). He then formed Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women for an album with five female musicians released in 2009, before returning to solo work with Eleven Eleven (2011). In 2014, the Alvin brothers reunited for two albums, before a first collaboration with Jimmie Dale Gilmore on Downey to Lubbock (2018), continued in 2024 on TexiCali.