Don Heffington

Behind blistering blues licks, TexiCali doubles as a roadtrip across Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s beloved home states and the memories within, honoring shared musical influences, friends gone too soon and all they’ve endured along the way. These folk heroes have now evolved their unbreakable bond into a fully-fledged musical and songwriting partnership. TexiCali continues to bridge the distance between the two troubadours’ respective home bases of California (Alvin) and Texas (Gilmore).

One thing that's obvious about Dave Alvin if you've followed his career at all is that the man loves music. He's a fan as much as an artist, and the joy derived from the simple act of playing and singing a song that moves him is palpable and infectious. He also loves musicians who feel the same way he does, and his best recordings are full of moments where the interplay between Alvin and his partners is taut and just short of electric. From an Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings presents 16 tracks from Alvin's personal archives, 13 of them covers, and according to his liner notes, most of them were recorded for no other reason than he and some friends went into the studio, got to playing, and walked out with some magic preserved for the ages.

In the 60s and 70s, it was not rare to see Jerry Yester’s name on classic albums. Whether producing acts like The Association, The Turtles, Tim Buckley or Tom Waits, or hearing him in bands like The Modern Folk Quartet, Rosebud, The Lovin’ Spoonful or with Judy Henske on the (now) classic Farewell Aldebaran – aside from a pair of 1967 singles, there wasn’t a Jerry Yester “solo album” from that period, as he was so busy creating music with and for other artists.

Behind blistering blues licks, TexiCali doubles as a roadtrip across Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s beloved home states and the memories within, honoring shared musical influences, friends gone too soon and all they’ve endured along the way. These folk heroes have now evolved their unbreakable bond into a fully-fledged musical and songwriting partnership. TexiCali continues to bridge the distance between the two troubadours’ respective home bases of California (Alvin) and Texas (Gilmore).

This 14-track collection is a retrospective from Buddy and Julie Miller's recordings solo and together on High Tone. There are six cuts from their self-titled duet album including a scorching unreleased take of "You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast" two from Buddy's Cruel Moon, and one each from Midnight and Lonesome, Poison Love, and Your Love and Other Lies. "Take Me Back" and "Out in the Rain" represent Julie's two albums on the label, Blue Pony and Broken Things. The pair sing together on all cuts.