Dave Alvin

As humble as a critically acclaimed artist can be, Alvin sidesteps the comparisons. “If you actually sit down and think about it, it can get a little unnerving, so I try not to think about those things,” he told POLLSTAR.

However, he can’t help but acknowledge the honor bestowed upon him recently when Bob Dylan requested that Alvin open for him. “I went up on stage every night expecting cat calls and beer bottles and everything, and we were getting standing ovations,” he said, almost in disbelief.

It can’t be easy for Alvin to brush aside the rave reviews surrounding his latest HighTone Records release, Blackjack David. He’s been called “one of the artists who helped reinvent folk music for the current generation,” an “introspective poet-of-the-highway,” and “one of Americana’s most important figures.”

His talents certainly haven’t gone untapped in the music industry. Other artists who have recorded Alvin’s songs include Dwight Yoakam, Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely, Kelly Willis, Johnny Rodriguez, Buckwheat Zydeco, Marshall Crenshaw, and Jo-El Sonnier. His producing credits include The Derailers, Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys, and Sonny Burgess.

In case there is any confusion about the title of his trade, Dave Alvin is a singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer/poet (he actually released a book of poetry about three years ago and is currently working on another).

Alvin is still well-known for the rockabilly band he co-founded with his brother Phil back in 1979 — The Blasters. That band was recording for Slash/Warner Bros. when Alvin left in 1985 to replace Billy Zoom in X. From rockabilly to punk rock, he had plenty of band experience before embarking on a solo career in 1987.

“And the rest is all written on the pavement somewhere with my blood,” he laughed.

All joking aside, he admits that this hasn’t been an easy career, but he loves it. “It’s difficult when you’re on an independent label because you don’t have the obvious radio promotion and media promotional kind of bucks. So, basically, it means that I have to go out on the road and just beat my head continually against it, which I like to do,” Alvin said. “I would like to just get to a point where let’s say beating my head against the pavement isn’t quite as brutal. Maybe I could have a pillow while I beat my head against the interstate.”

Though his debut solo effort came out on Epic Records in 1987, he eventually found indie label HighTone to be a perfect fit for his music. “My major drawback to major labels is the turnover rate is so quick and consistent. It’s difficult to find a major label where the people that signed you are there by the time your record comes out,” Alvin said.

“It’s also difficult to go in and say, ‘Look, this is the type of music I play; it’s not the most commercial. Can you stay with me long term while I thrash about with this?’ So having learned that, I was looking for a label that understood what I was doing musically so I wouldn’t have to explain it every time a record came out or every time I sat down to write a song…. And HighTone, they started out as a blues label that understood country music. That’s basically what I am — a blues guy that likes country music. It was like a match made in heaven in some ways.”

The absence of commercial success in his career — and in the Americana genre in general — is not a bad thing in Alvin’s eyes. “In fact, in a weird way, I think it’s a healthy scene because no one’s made it huge,” he said. “The one thing experience has taught me is whenever something becomes huge, it’s gone next year.” He said, fortunately, Americana music has slowly built off of fan loyalty and word of mouth.

He believes there is an audience for every kind of music and with technology such as the Internet, it’s getting easier to find those fans. Rather than having high hopes for mainstream success, Alvin said, “I just hope everybody can make a living.”

He will be making his living with a crazy schedule this year, touring the U.S. with his band, The Guilty Men, and producing albums for The Derailers and Katy Moffatt. Among some other top secret projects, he will appear on television’s “Austin City Limits” April 10th — something he’s always wanted to do being that Texas is his second home.

Other than that, Alvin says he just wants to better his music. “When I was a little kid, I used to sneak into bars to see people like Lightnin’ Hopkins or Big Joe Turner — the great blues guys [like] Freddie King and people like that. And so I know what really good is. And there aren’t a lot of people out there that can shine these guys’ shoes. And I’d like to get to the point where I can at least say that I was good enough that I could shine Lightnin’ Hopkins’ shoes.”