Hitting the road together last year convinced longtime pals Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore to finally make an album together — Downey to Lubbock, which comes out June 1 via Yep Roc Records. So it’s fitting that the video for the title track and first single, debuted exclusively below, takes the two back to the stage.
“It really kind of demonstrates the way it was,” Gilmore tells Billboard about the clip, which was filmed the Cinema Bar in Los Angeles. “It also shows the way we did the recording, kind of old style. It wasn’t live on stage but we were all playing together on the track. Of course we did some overdubs and stuff, but getting it down there’s a live feel to it because, in essence, it was live.”
Gilmore says the Downey To Lubbock album was a surprise result of his tour with Alvin. “There wasn’t any kind of plan behind it,” he notes. “It was just an idea. We came up with some dates and from the very beginning it was so much fun and it clicked so well and in so many different ways.” The idea of a live album was broached first, which subsequently morphed into a full-scale studio project, which was recorded during three sessions at Winslow Court Studio in Los Angeles. The 11-song set includes one other original, Alvin’s “Billy the Kid and Geronimo,” and hand-picked covers including Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” the Youngbloods’ “Get Together,” Brownie and Ruth McGhee’s “Walk On,” Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” a ripping take on Lightnin’ Hopkins “Buddy Brown’s Blues” and an arrangement of the traditional “K.C. Moan.”
“Dave and I would just trade songs and it became clear pretty quickly there was a whole repertoire that overlapped for both of us,” Gilmore recalls. “It all happened so easily and so smoothly that it was just fun from beginning to end. Dave might have had this idea in mind from the very beginning; For me it’s kind of like, ‘Wow, this is like a little, found treasure…’ I’m very happy with the outcome.”
There may be more where Downey To Lubbock came from, too. Alvin and Gilmore hit the road again on May 23 for spring and summer shows and even have a date booked during November in Baton Rouge. And Gilmore predicts a return to the studio will be in store for the two troubadours.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we do more recording in the future,” he says. “There isn’t anything planned, but I feel like this (album) is really just kind of the tip of the iceberg. It’d be great to do some actual writing together — but once again that’s just conjecture, that’s not a plan. But I would love to have it happen. We’re a very good team.”
Tour Dates:
May 23 – Morro Bay, CA – The Siren
May 24 – Fresno, CA – Fulton 55
May 25 – Grass Valley, CA – Strawberry Fest
June 1 – Houston, TX – Heights Theater
June 2 – Austin, TX – Antone’s
June 3 – Dallas, TX – Kessler
June 7 – Philadelphia, PA – World Café Live
June 8 – New York, NY – City Winery
June 9 – Fall River, MA – Narrows Center for the Arts
June 10 – Boston, MA – City Winery
June 14 – Alexandria, DC – Birchmere
June 16 – Turner Falls, MA – Shea Theater
June 17 – Croton on Hudson, NY – Clearwater Fest
June 20 – Buffalo, NY – Sportsmen’s Tavern
June 21 – Cleveland, OH – The Music Box
June 22 – Columbus, OH – Valley Dale Ballroom
June 23 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
Jun 24 – Charleston, WV – Mountain Stage
July 21 – Telluride, CO – Americana Music Fest
July 23 – Phoenix, AZ – Musical Instrument Museum
July 25 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
July 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
July 27 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
July 28 – Santa Cruz, CA – Moe’s Alley
July 29 – Chico, CA – Sierra Nevada Brewing Co
Aug 31 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway
Sep 1 – Kansas City, MO – Knuckleheads
Sep 2 – Omaha, NE – Sunday Roadhouse at Waiting Room
Sep 30 – Vancouver, BC – Imperial
Nov 16 – Baton Rouge, LA – The Manship Theater