An inimitable singer-songwriter-guitarist famed for blazing his own path, roots rocker Dave Alvin comes to the Freight stage with a host of gems from his recent CD, West of the West. Featuring songs by some of California's best-loved songwriters, from Merle Haggard and Jerry Garcia to Kate Wolf and David Hidalgo, Dave describes the album as "a sort of blues/folk/doowop/country/psychedelic/norteño/surf record (I think that covers everything)." And just to up the ante, Dave is joined for the show by rockabilly/alt-country vocalist Christy McWilson and fiddler/songstress Amy Farris, plus guitarist Nina Gerber.

Dave and his older brother Phil burst onto the California music scene in 1979, when they formed the roots rock group The Blasters who rapidly became a sensation in Los Angeles and won an enthusiastic cult following across the United States and Europe. After the Blasters, Dave had a stint as lead guitarist for the L.A. punk band X, as well as joining the beloved alt-country band The Knitters, before embarking on a solo career. Distinguished by a constant impulse to explore distant musical horizons, Dave has spent his career ranging from country to blues to hard-edged roots rock to more introspective acoustic music and beyond. His 2000 collection of traditional folk and blues classics, Public Domain: Songs From the Wild Land, earned him a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Dave has also been known to say, "Occasionally I make records, but what I do is play live." Sounds pretty irresistible to us! This is sure to be one memorable show!