MUSIC SCENE: Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore bring roots rock to Fall River

The big summit meeting for music fans in the Boston area this week is the Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore "Downey to Lubbock" tour, which played the Narrows Center for the Arts Saturday night, and touches down at City Winery in Boston on Sunday night.

Fans of roots music no doubt know both men, but many listeners might view it as an odd pairing, even if both are indisputably pillars of the wide-ranging Americana genre. Saturday night was more like a living room jam session, complete with stories and remembrances, by two of America's most unique musicians, before a crowd of about 300 enthralled fans.

Alvin, 62, formed the rock band The Blasters in the 1980s with his older brother Phil Alvin, went his own way in 1986, played in the punk/roots band X, before releasing his first solo album in 1987. With 16 albums as leader under his belt, Alvin is known for his unvarnished rock sound, with plenty of blues and country roots showing through, a gift for evocative, literate songwriting, the kind of stentorian baritone vocals that would make his mentor Big Joe Turner proud, and a knack for crafting the most galvanizing guitar solos which are unerringly melodic.

Gilmore, 73, comes out of a country background, and is famed as part of one of the first 'alternative country' bands, The Flatlanders, with fellow Texas songwriters Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, and Terry Allen. Though they began performing together in 1972, The Flatlanders remained largely a mystery, and their debut "More A Legend Than A Band" was only released as an 8-track, and hence, quickly disappeared. Gilmore was the most mysterious of the Flatlanders, withdrawing to a Colorado ashram for several years, and only making his solo debut in 1988. He's followed with several fine albums since then, and even the Flatlanders reappeared in 2012 with "The Odessa Tapes." Actually, Ely's rocking versions made several of Gilmore's tunes widely popular over the years with rock fans. But Gilmore's quavery tenor vocals, and his own ability to create descriptive phrases that resonate, lend almost everything he sings a mystical quality.

The two artists met and became casual friends on a songwriters' tour in the early 1990s, and found some common ground. But it was really when they got a chance to perform together in 2016 that this project took shape, as they realized they'd been both living in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, and even hanging out at the legendary Ashgrove music club at roughly the same time. As Alvin was relating last night how he and his older brother would get in there when they were "knee-high to Jimmie," Gilmore responded "I was probably there with my wife and baby."

In short the two found they had much in common, shared the same tastes and had been indelibly formed by the same people, from Turner to Lightning Hopkins and many more. That led to this year's superb album "Downey to Lubbock," (on Yep Roc Records) where the two swap vocals on ten songs from people that influenced them, and add two new originals, including the title cut.

Saturday's 16-song, one hour, 45-minute show began with the album's title cut, a neat summary of how the two came to end up performing together. Alvin played electric guitar throughout, while Gilmore strummed his acoustic guitar and added occasional harmonica. Alvin's regular touring band, The Guilty Ones, backed up the two stars, with the formidable Chris Miller on guitar, Lisa Pankratz on drums, and Brad Fordham on bass. The set would go on to include eight of the dozen songs from the new album, along with some of each man's signature songs.

"I'm a wild blues Blaster from a sunburnt California town, with a Stratocaster that can blow any roadhouse down.." Alvin sang. Gilmore took the next verse "I'm an old Flatlander from the great high plains, like wanderlust and wonder, West Texas dirt blows through my veins.." With that as a mission statement, the title cut kicked off into heavy-bottomed blues rock, with the contrast between the voices seemingly perfect, and Gilmore's honking harmonica an apt contrast to Alvin's stiletto guitar notes.

But the musical focus shifted, as Gilmore unearthed a Flatlanders nugget, "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown," investing with all of the lonesome heartbreak of the original, while Alvin added some visceral guitar accents. Then it was Alvin's turn to shift the direction, with a blistering take on his roadhouse boogie-rocker, "Johnny Ace Is Dead," one of his historically-grounded story-songs.

The late songwriter Steve Young was also living near Silver Lake all those decades ago, and he knew both Gilmore and Alvin, although the two didn't know each other. Young told Alvin he'd written the tune "Silver Lake" for him, but also told Gilmore he wanted him to sing it some day. Learning that caused some consternation when they compared stories, but Alvin agreed Gilmore should sing it, and the result is practically a hymn to the beauty of that neighborhood.

Dave Alvin (left) and Jimmie Dale Gilmore's "Downey to Lubbock Tour" swung through the area this weekend

Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Dave Alvin and their "Downey to Lubbock Tour" came through the area this weekend.

Alvin's signature "Fourth of July" was delivered as every bit the rowdy rocker it was when he did it with X, with the added spice of his gradually upping the tempo on his typically fiery guitar solo ending. Showing that same ability to shift gears, the duo then did Woody Guthrie's ballad "Deportee: Plane Crash at Los Gatos," with Gilmore investing it with new layers of feeling. Turning on a dime, the group then uncorked Lloyd Price's old barnburner "Lawdy Lawdy Miss Clawdy," with Gilmore singing the rousing number as the band added some of its original New Orleans flavor.

The other original on the new album is Alvin's "Billy the Kid and Geronimo," where he takes that historic bent and creates a fantasy meeting, where they compare their lives as outlaws. Alvin sang as The Kid, regretting nothing of his crimes, while Gilmore--who has substantial Cherokee blood--took the verses as Geronimo, expressing regret for the things he'd felt forced to do. Amongst all that, it was also a sharp rock song. But few songs are ever as dynamic as Alvin's "Dry River," from his overlooked 1991 "Blue Boulevard" album, and that semi-autobiographical rocker was the moment it seemed his Stratocaster might just blow the Narrows down.

One of the most notable songs on the new album is the pair's re-working of The Youngblood's late-1960s hit "Get Together," with its lines "everybody get together, try to love one another right now.." Somehow hearing Gilmore's haunting voice sing those lines made the song seem as fresh as if it were written this week, and Alvin's guitar accents were subtle but effective. Gilmore's own "Dallas" was re-worked into a rocking blues, to conclude the regular set.

The encores started off with a brief segment from "Buddy Brown's Blues," which both men heard--separately--from their mutual friend Lightning Hopkins. Gilmore then introduced a song he noted was one of his most popular, even if it was in fact penned by Butch Hancock, and "My Mind's Got A Mind of Its Own" was re-cast as rockabilly to fabulous effect. Alvin then noted that one of his most popular songs had surprisingly become kind of a zydeco standard, after Buckwheat Zydeco's cover was a minor hit. Alvin's old Blasters hit "Marie Marie" was delivered in all its roadhouse glory, with Miller adding some sizzling slide guitar. The night ended with the band reprising "Downey to Lubbock," all those country, blues, and rock elements coalescing into magnificent American music.

The Los Angeles duo Dead Rock West is opening this tour and they have a wonderful sound of their own. The duo is vocalist Cindy Wasserman and singer/guitarist Frank Lee Drennen. Whether it was the a capella gospel tune Wasserman opened with, or the fast paced "Rocket from the Crypt" with Drennen's 12-string guitar carrying the melody, their 11-song opening set was dazzling. Dead Rock West did a whole album of Everly Brothers' tunes in 2016, and they did "Chained to a Memory" a capella, showcasing their lovely harmonies. "Kathie's Clown" was infectiously buoyant. The title cut from their last album, 2017's "More Love" boasted an intriguing lyric and those irresistible vocal harmonies. Note: that 2017 album was produced by John Doe, who bolstered the duo with guest shots from his old X bandmate DJ Bonebrake, and Cars guitarist Elliot Easton, among others.