Americana icon Dave Alvin and Friends to perform

Due to an emergency, author Tupelo Hassman has cancelled her appearance at the Churchill Arts Council for Saturday. Hassman is author of the acclaimed debut novel, “Girlchild.” The book was a New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice” and was also included in NPR’s “10 Books to Help You Recover from a Tense 2012.”

Coming up on May 11, though, Dave Alvin and Friends will be performing at the Art Center. It will be a great chance to see the Grammy winning guitarist, singer, songwriter and proponent of Americana music in the intimate space of the Barkley Theatre.

Alvin is one of the most important, and perhaps the most literate, Americana singer and songwriter’s of his generation and throughout his 24 year career as a solo artist — and over the course of eleven albums in that time — he’s written and recorded songs that have become touchstones for the genre.

His musical career began with the seminal rock band, The Blasters, who were one of the prime movers on the burgeoning roots rock scene and who released four studio albums in the early 1980s including his now classic song “Border Radio.”

He released his first solo album, “Romeo’s Escape” in 1987 and, in 2000, he received the Best Contemporary Folk Grammy for “Public Domain: Songs from the Wild Land.”

His other highly touted CDs include “Blue Blvd,” “Museum of Heart,” “King of California,” “Blackjack David,” “Ashgrove,” “West of the West,” and “Eleven Eleven.”

He’s said that his songs are about “life, death, loss, money, justice, labor, faith, doubt, family and friendship. You know, the usual stuff.” For more information on Alvin and his music, you can check out his website,

His performances move seamlessly between introspective acoustic songs and edgy up-tempo roots rock reflecting his belief that there are two kinds of folk music: quiet folk music and loud folk music and that he plays both. His show at the Barkley will certainly feature examples of both kind of music.

Tickets are $17 for CAC members, $20 for non-members and are now available to Jeff’s Copy Express, Postage Plus, ITT @ NAS Fallon or by calling the Arts Council at 775-423-1440.