Singer-Songwriter-Guitarist Dave Alvin To Give A Helping Hand

By John Roos

Dave Alvin has been through a lot. A helluva lot. The roots-based singer-songwriter-guitarist has literally been in self-preservation mode since he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal (colon) cancer in 2020. Alvin underwent rounds of radiation and chemotherapy before having surgery to remove the tumors still remaining in his body.

Doctors told Alvin, a co-founding member of the influential rock band the Blasters, that he was cancer-free in June 2021. Still, while this is incredibly good news, Alvin remains cautious about the road ahead for a 67-year-old man accustomed to the hectic pace of recording music and touring.

“My health is an issue even though I am ‘in remission’ now, whatever that means?” Alvin said during a recent phone interview from his Southern California residence. “It certainly limits what I can do so my goal is to get as much done as I can. I’m just not the guy I used to be, that pillar of strength and endurance.”

No doubting that. Yet, Alvin is still strong enough to give back to his music community. He will be headlining the 5th Annual Arhoolie Foundation Awards and Benefit concert Friday night (April 14) at the Chapel in San Francisco. Also on the eclectic bill are Tejano conjunto musician Santiago Jiménez Jr. and acoustic bluesman Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, with a special guest or two likely to appear. Based in El Cerrito, the Arhoolie Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of regional roots music. Proceeds will support the mission of Foundation founder Chris Strachwitz and his seminal independent record label, Arhoolie Records.

Alvin’s support of this worthy cause makes perfect sense.

“(Older sibling) Phil and I were little `78 record collectors, we were discovering crazy records by this crazy records label called Arhoolie,” recalled Alvin, citing several blues artists including Big Joe Turner and Lightning Hopkins. “The music was just all over the place . . . European folk music, music from the Caribbean, wild Clifton Chenier zydeco tunes, and so on. Chris (Strachwitz) was a visionary with a passion for oddball stuff, and I don’t mean that as a put-down. I don’t like mainstream pop culture and music so Arhoolie is for all (of) us oddballs--and there is an audience for this authentic, timeless music.”

While Alvin can hold his own musically, he admits to being a little intimidated to share the stage with the likes of Paxton and Jiménez Jr.

“I’m scared to death,” he said. “I’m not on their level so they’re just throwing me out there. I’ve done some shows with Blind Boy and he’s deadly. Now Santiago, I’ve never met him and he is more traditional than his brother, Flaco, who I have played with before. But hey, I’m willing to do anything to help the cause.”

From the Beginning

Alvin’s professional music roots go back to the early-1980’s when he and brother Phil co-founded the roots-and-rockabilly band the Blasters. With Dave as lead guitarist and principal songwriter, the group became burgeoning stars in Los Angeles and earned a devoted fan base internationally after the release of their self-titled 1981 album for Slash Records. Only Dave left the Blasters after their 1985 album, Hard Line, and launched his solo career with 1987's Every Night About This Time.

Over the past four decades, Alvin has kept his creative juices flowing both as a solo artist and member of a variety of bands and duos, including punk legends X, the Knitters, Pleasure Barons, Flesh Eaters, and Third Mind, his most recent side project of unlikely neo-psychedelic jams and experimental soundscapes featuring the like-minded, former Camper Van Beethoven bassist Victor Krummenacher.

The impetus behind Alvin’s latest studio compilation blossomed ironically from one of the side-effects of his cancer treatments. Inflicted with myopathy, a bone-related condition that causes muscle weakness and pain when doing routine activities, Alvin couldn’t play his guitar for seven months. This was happening during the COVID lockdown as well so it turned out to be an ideal time for Alvin to work on organizing his next project, From an Old Guitar – Rare and Unreleased Recordings, which was released on November 20, 2020.

“I suddenly had the time to go through all this recorded material and I’m really proud of these songs,” he said. “They mean a lot to me, each for different reasons. We recorded many of them over the years at Winslow Court, one of my favorite recording studios, and my (sound) engineer (Craig Parker Adams) just did a fabulous job capturing not only the sounds I was after, but also the joy and playful spirit that marked many of these sessions.”

Collaborations and Friendships

Alvin has also kept busy working alongside Texas singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore. In 2018, the duo released a terrific album of rock, folk, country, and blues titled Downey to Lubbock, a reference to the cities respectively that each musician calls home. A follow-up album is in the works which will feature the just-released single titled “Borderland,” a timely song sung by Gilmore about the human impact of the continued border crisis in our country. For a listen, go to https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BnemxmS47Ug.

Alvin feels honored to collaborate with Gilmore, who’s had an enduring solo career in addition to being a member of the legendary trio, the Flatlanders, which includes fellow Texans Joe Ely and Butch Hancock. Gilmore is perhaps most known for his distinctive, soaring, angelic tenor.

“Like life in California, Jimmie is never dull,” Alvin deadpanned. “I love playing with him. He’s uniquely him and he can’t be anything but him. My brother Phil is the same way, and that’s what I like about them both. Jimmie is a great, great blues singer, and is no slouch with country, folk and r&b. So, well, how do we capture all that? I’ve really tried to showcase that side of him, and I think we did okay.”

Alvin only has to summon the memory of his best friend and former band member—the late, great singer/songwriter/accordion player Chris Gaffney—to appreciate how fragile and random life can be.

Gaffney, a touring member of Alvin’s Guilty Men backing band before embarking on a solo career, succumbed to liver cancer in 2008 at the age of 57. Alvin participated in a heartfelt tribute to Gaffney in March 2019 at the Scottish Rite Event Center in Long Beach, an event I had the privilege to cover for Patch.com. (For my review, go to https://patch.com/california/longbeach-ca/reunion-celebration-pays-loving-tribute-musician-chris-gaffney)

“Chris and I had a lot in common and things we did not have in common . . . like I was not a Golden Gloves boxer,” said a chuckling Alvin, alluding to Gaffney winning a L.A. Golden Gloves championship in 1967. “We did share the same sense of humor. There were many things that no one else on earth would find funny but me and him. He could be moody so it was difficult to make 'Gaff' laugh but I could do it. I missed him a lot during my cancer treatments, I’m not gonna lie to you.”

Alvin perseveres throughout the ups-and-downs with few regrets.

“I could complain about a lot of things, it hasn’t been easy. It’s difficult to earn a living but at the same time, I’ve been very lucky. I’ve had some success recording with indie labels like Hightone and YepRoc, places where I don’t have to explain too much about why I’m doing what I’m doing (musically.) I’ve had an incredibly patient audience, they’ve stuck around throughout all my incarnations. What a blessing.”

*The 5th Annual Arhoolie Awards and Benefit Concert, featuring Dave Alvin, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, Santiago Jiménez Jr., and surprise guests happens Friday, April 14, at the Chapel, 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. 8 p.m. $45-$150. www.thechapelsf.com.