Dave Alvin

Most Southland music fans know McCabe's Guitar Shop for the innumerable folk, country, blues, jazz and world-music concerts presented over the decades in the tiny back stockroom that can hold about 150 folding chairs when all the instrument cases are...

Pop music and jazz figures Bob Popescu, 77; co-owner of Catalina Bar & Grill, turned the Los Angeles club into one of the top jazz venues in the country (Jan. 5) Ken Nelson, 84; longtime Capitol Records talent scout had an ear for country music (Jan. 6)...

The Watson Twins Fire Songs (Vanguard) * * * (three stars) Languor is a risky quality for musicians to cultivate: The Path of Slow has led countless down-tempo electronica acts into the dead-end of dinner music. But when slow works, it can be...

"Whatever you do, do not play 'the Beat!' " That was the first thing Bo Diddley said to us before we walked onto the stage of the Music Machine club in West L.A. for two sets in 1983. We were a mix of members of the Blasters and X who had agreed, with...

Ask Dave Alvin where he lives and you get a long answer. "I've lived in L.A. proper since 1980 or 1981 now, but I still feel like a stranger in a way. And you know, I don't consider myself an L.A. songwriter. I'm a Downey guy." So although Alvin's...

For those thoroughly out of the loop: SXSWBABY.com is the unofficial source for some great festivals updates. The site also posts freebie opportunities for those who can't afford the ever-increasing price to party at Austin's annual music festival....

A desert Plant for Pappy Hour A Zeppelin landed in the High Desert. The enclave of Pioneertown got a visit Saturday night from Robert Plant, who showed up at Pappy & Harriet's to hear rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson perform. The singer was so smitten with...

Finding a space, and a sound For the Sound Team, it was all about creative space — specifically, 1,500 square feet of studio in Austin, Texas, where the sextet fidgeted, experimented and finally arrived at the wide-ranging songs on its debut album,...

Roxy still the rule The Roxy continues its reign on the Strip for must-see clubbing. Liv Tyler, Kate Hudson and Mischa Barton rocked out to Birds of a Feather, an acoustic show by the Black Crowes' bros, Chris and Rich Robinson, who got twangy for...

5:21 a.m. It's barely dawn, but the cars, pickups, vans, trailers and U-Haul trucks are lined up around all four sides of Veterans Stadium's parking lot, each vehicle filled with the detritus of American consumer culture. The engines are off, and vendors...