Dave Alvin: Part Review, Part Fiction

From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings, or, I-25 Revisited

A year ago, I wrote about the Dave Alvin release, From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings (Yep Roc). The story ran in the free online magazine Copper, published by PS Audio, a high-end audio company based in Boulder, which is also the site of my alma mater, the University of Colorado. (For my latest column, about the Fania Records singles box set, click here.) Copper is one of those "circle unbroken" situations, since it is edited with great skill by Frank Doris, a guitar player whose Long Island new wave band The Lines I wrote about for Newsday in the early 1980s. This Dave Alvin record shook me from my moorings; I did not write a review of it as much engaged with what might be called at least a hybrid version of speculative fiction. What's below is a slightly updated, minor revisions. Any typos are mine, because Frank didn't get to read this revised version.