Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s Musical Mutual Admiration

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A mutual admiration society is defined as a relationship in which two people have strong feelings of esteem for each other and often exchange lavish compliments. That’s the case when Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore get together. They will perform on Thursday, Sept. 12 at Vivarium.

The duo, who have found success both as solo artists and within group formats (Alvin with The Blasters, X, the Knitters and The Flesh Eaters and Gilmore with The Flatlanders), are coming off their second recorded collaboration together, the recently released TexiCali.

The 11-cut recording is the follow-up to the duo’s initial musical get-together—2018’s Downey to Lubbock. And while that initial foray found the duo recording in California with a bunch of what Gilmore called “talented crack studio players,” this outing featured Alvin’s road band, The Guilty Ones, saddling up for a quartet of Texas-based sessions. As for the inspiration for the project, Alvin used one word, survival, particularly given how he was coming off a brutal two-year cancer battle.

“It really was [about survival] because the whole country was going through COVID-19 and the music industry basically shut down,” Alvin explained in an early July interview. “I was going through the cancer treatments and there was a period of time—about six or seven months—where I couldn’t even touch a guitar. My hands were so swollen from chemotherapy and radiation. We didn’t know whether the music industry as we knew it was going to be around when we got through COVID-19 and I didn’t even know if I was going to be around if we got through COVID-19. And if I did, I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to play guitar anymore. 

“I had a few goals when I got through all this junk,” he said. “One of those goals was that Jimmie Dale and I had to make a record together because playing with Jimmie on stage and in the studio, getting tacos with Jimmie in New Mexico—anything you do with Jimmie Dale Gilmore is inspirational.”

The Guilty Ones

Gilmore was equally moved by the success he and Alvin found on the road with The Guilty Ones as all the musicians jelled together during a solid bout of touring behind Downey to Lubbock.

“Dave has pointed out an important factor with this record and I realized how true it was,” said Gilmore, who joined Alvin for the interview. “‘Downey to Lubbock’ was a studio record and then we toured all year on that with The Guilty Ones. By the time that year was over, which was right before COVID-19 hit, we had actually become a band by then. Dave pointed out that while it wasn’t the inspiration for this latest record, a solid factor in the way it all came about was that it was a band doing a record together.”

The four recording sessions in bucolic Big Springs, TX produced a delightful mix of covers and original numbers. Among the highlights are “Roll Around,” a noirish reggae-flavored cut penned by Gilmore’s Flatlander compadre Butch Hancock that’s punctuated by a sinewy rhythm guitar line and “Why I’m Walking,” a gem by storied honky-tonker Stonewall Jackson burnished by a New Orleans-kissed arrangement that strikes just the right balance of twangy guitar and rollicking piano. 

Blues Legends

Most interesting are Gilmore’s forays into the canons of blues legends Blind Willie McTell (“Broke Down Engine”) and Brownie McGee (“Betty and Dupree”) that Alvin prodded the Texan into giving a shot despite his buddy’s misgivings.

“[Dave] imagined me doing songs that I loved, but would never have attempted,” Gilmore explained. “They’re songs I love to listen to. There are several on the record that under my auspices, I would never have considered it. It just wouldn’t have occurred and Dave was like, ‘Let’s do this old Blind Willie McTell thing.’ Dave is steeped in all of that. Blind Willie McTell is in a sense more melodic. Melody is real important to me, but I had a hard time.”

Alvin never doubted Gilmore could pull it off. “I’ve always thought of Jimmie as one of our great contemporary blues singers because he’s got a quality in his voice,” Alvin pointed out. “My brother Phil is the world’s greatest blues singer, so I know a good blues singer when I hear ‘em. Jimmie Dale is certainly one of them.”

Rekindle the Chemistry

Both men were eager to get on the road, fully expecting they’ll rekindle the chemistry they built during their first go-round of touring together, although the new material will make this outing a new experience.

“We’re going to be doing a lot of the new album and a good chunk of the first album we did,” Alvin said. “And then (we’ll do) a couple of Flatlanders songs, a couple of Blasters songs and a couple of songs from here and there. They can also expect the unexpected. We hope they’re capable of following either Jimmie or I down some strange dark alleys.”