SOPAC Presents Legends Dave Alvin And JImmie Dale Gilmore

Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore have been filling canvasses with music of the American West for decades, coming from two very different directions. Now, they will play together at the South Orange Performing Arts Center on Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. for the very first time. Though far from home, Alvin and Gilmore's first duo album, Downey to Lubbock, contains all the elements that have sustained their musical journey through the years.

Roots music legends, Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, have been friends for 30 years, but only recently realized they had never played music with each other before. So in 2017, Grammy Award winner Alvin and Grammy Award nominee Gilmore, decided to hit the highway to swap songs, tell stories, and share their life experiences.

Though Texas-born Gilmore was twice named Country Artist of the Year by Rolling Stone, and California native Alvin first came to fame in the hard rocking Rhythm & Blues band The Blasters, they discovered that their musical roots in old Blues and Folk music are exactly the same. Mutually energized and inspired by these performances, Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore agreed to hit the road again in 2018... this time with a new album, a full band and some new stories to share.

The title track explains Dave Alvin is a Strat-packing, wild Blues Blaster, a nod to the Roots Rock band he formed with his brother Phil in 1978 before Dave peeled off to go his own way in 1986. He's been part of the bands X, the Knitters, and the Flesh Eaters, tours relentlessly with his own band, the Guilty Ones, and continues apace on musical quests informed by his love of California and its history, and by Texas and the South, where most of the great music that was made in Los Angeles before and after the Second World War came from.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore is the old Flatlander from the Great High Plains, acknowledging his first group, the Folk-Country trio formed in Lubbock 1972 with Joe Ely and Butch Hancock who continue performing and recording today. In addition to the Flatlanders and an extended solo career, he has been part of several ensembles including the Hub City Movers and The Wronglers with Warren Hellman, who started the Hardly, Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco.

Now, their musical odyssey continues together. Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore will bring the songs of Downey to Lubbock, and more, when they take the SOPAC stage Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30-$40 and are on sale now. They can be purchased online at http://www.sopacnow.org/dave-alvin-jimmie-dale-gilmore/ or by calling the box office at (973) 313-2787.