Stan Ridgway- Neon Mirage

Does a songwriter chase his muse – or is it the other way ‘round? That’s but one of the intriguing notions at the heart of Stan Ridgway’s 2010 release, Neon Mirage, arguably the most refined, yet musically eclectic collection of the veteran L.A. singer-songwriter/Wall of Voodoo founder’s career. “You never really have a choice about the tone and subject matter of the records you make,” Ridgway confides. “At least I don’t.They’re obsessions, really. ...

Grammy winner, Dave Alvin, has been roaming the highways of American music for over a quarter century. During those decades he's busted speakers with roots rock kick-starters, The Blasters, as well as mined the depths of country, folk and blues with his solo projects. A mainstay during much of this journey has been Alvin's electrifying band The Guilty Men.

Following the recent death of Dave's best friend and Guilty Men...

Chris Gaffney Tribute: The Man of Somebody's Dreams Dave Alvin & Various Artists

A founding member of the Hacienda Brothers and a renowned west coast country-soul singer/songwriter, Chris Gaffney moved people as much with his smile as with his trademark croon. Gaffney passed away in 2008 after a courageous battle with liver cancer and is survived by his family and the litany of musical heroes he called friends and collaborators.

Upon learning of his diagnosis, Chris' close friend and musical...

Public Domain

2001 Grammy Winner for Best Traditional Folk Album!

"Most of the songs on this CD," says Alvin, "I found collecting old records with my brother Phil when we were barely in our teens. We searched thrift stores and junk stores, attics and swap meets to find old blues, R&B, or country 78s and 45s, and long-out-of-print reissue albums on obscure labels. We were just looking for something that excited us more than the bulk of what was on radio. Little did we know that we were discovering America's folk music. ..

Out in California

"Occasionally I make records," says Dave Alvin, "But what I do is I play live." What Dave Alvin does so magnificently is captured in electrifying fashion on Out In California. The full breadth of Alvin's artistry and the power of his touring band, the Guilty Men, comes through in 13 tracks culled from recent performances at the Blue Café in Long Beach CA, the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara CA, and the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena CA, where this great American songwriter revisits and reinterprets songs from every era of his career...

AMY FARRIS - ANYWAY

Though her brilliant career has encompassed violin duties for everyone from Ray Price to Kelly Willis to Brian Wilson, Amy Farris truly shines on her solo debut, "Anyway". With nods to classic Brill Building pop, Patsy Cline-era torch songs, western swing and Southern California cosmic country, Anyway presents a unique new voice with a profound sense of history. Produced by Dave Alvin (Dave also co-writes several tracks and plays on the record), this record should be one of the most exciting debut ...

CHRISTY McWILSON - BED OF ROSES

CHRISTY McWILSON -THE LUCKY ONE

CHRIS GAFFNEY - LOSER'S PARADISE

BIG SANDY AND THE FLY-RITE BOYS - JUMPIN' FROM SIX TO SIX

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys had been together six years at the time of this album's release, and they had already forged a unique style of music that set them apart from hordes of retro pretenders. This record combines the influences of Western Swing, old fashioned honky-tonk music, and 1950s rockabilly to create a sound that is like a lost remnant of the past, yet totally fresh and engaging. Jumping from 6 to 6 was recorded at the famous Capitol Records Studios and produced by HighTone veteran Dave Alvin, who...

BIG SANDY AND THE FLY-RITE BOYS - SWINGIN' WEST

Big Sandy's melting pot of rockabilly, western swing, and hillbilly music has attracted fans from all ages and genres, winning opening gigs for country upstarts the Mavericks, psychobilly hipster the Reverend Horton Heat, and brooding rocker Morrissey. Their pure vintage approach never holds back the music, which is as fresh and vital as that of any contemporary band. Produced by former Blaster and HighTone veteran Dave Alvin at the legendary Capitol Studio B (former stomping ground of Gene Vincent, ...

Tennessee Border: Sonny Burgess with Dave Alvin

This is nothin' short of hot-wired, bluesy rockabilly, as fiery and alive as anything Burgess recorded during his heyday at Sun Records. Dave Alvin is as smoking on the 6-string as he's ever been, and Burgess' weathered vocals are in top form. It's a short record, but a keeper...Billy Davis of the Blasters/Dave Alvin newsletter says this may be his favorite Alvin album of all! Covers include jumping versions of "Old, Old Man" (made famous by Lefty Frizzell) and "Tennessee Border" ...

THE DERAILERS - FULL WESTERN DRESS

THE DERAILERS - REVERB DELUXE

THE DERAILERS - JACKPOT

Since the original 1996 release of Jackpot, The Derailers have been leaders of the movement that has been renewing country music with a potent combination of roots credibility and progressive innovations. Melding the classic California country style with Texas honky-tonk, the group has won a fervent following from their consistent touring and subsequent albums. Now the album that started it all is back as the lead-off release in the Watermelon Reissue Series, which will be bringing the influential ...

Tulare Dust: A Songwriter's Tribute to Merle Haggard

A recent inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame, Merle Haggard is a giant figure in modern American music: singer, bandleader, music historian, social commentator, and perhaps most notably, songwriter. Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute to Merle Haggard is a tribute to Haggard, the songwriter, by a group of some of the best contemporary singer-songwriters in country, folk, and rock music.

TOM RUSSELL - ROSE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN

Produced by Dave Alvin and Greg Leisz, this is Tom Russell's first HighTone album. (Russell and Alvin had worked together before as co-producers and performers on the critically acclaimed Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute to Merle Haggard.) Russell has written songs for such well-known country artists as Suzy Bogguss ("Outbound Plane"), Jerry Jeff Walker ("Navajo Rug"), Nanci Griffith, Johnny Cash, and Joe Ely ("Gallo del Cielo"). The songs on this record center around a California theme, ...

KATY MOFFAT - LOOSE DIAMOND

On past albums, Texas native Katy Moffatt has tended to camouflage her flair for hard-country hurtin' songs beneath a familiar acoustic-folk veneer. Loose Diamond brings Moffatt's country leanings front and center without ignoring her broader folk, rock, and blues influences. Producer Dave Alvin has assembled a first-rate West Coast roots-country studio crew, including members of his own Guilty Men and Dwight Yoakam's band. Moffatt's voice sounds equally at home on Hank Williams Jr.'s honky-tonk howler ...

CANDYE KANE - DIVA LA GRANDE

JILL OLSON - MY BEST YESTERDAY

Jill Olson was watching the 2002 Academy Awards with friends when, all of a sudden, she heard a very familiar song. Halle Berry had just won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "Monster's Ball," and conductor John Williams struck up the band -- playing "Broken Up and Blue," a tune Jill wrote and recorded with her band Red Meat! "I was in a state of shock," Jill admits. Hearing her song -- which appears on "Monster's Ball" soundtrack -- on the Oscars was only the latest of a series of career highlights for Jill, ...

RED MEAT - WE NEVER CLOSE

"We Never Close is Red Meat's fourth, and finest, album...a knockout time start to finish." ­ No Depression

"Red Meat's contribution to the Americana universe is to stoke the legendary fires of that old Bakersfield sound, as once done by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Oakland honky tonkers Red Meat have absorbed a wide spectrum of their predecessors, and their country music ...

RED MEAT - ALAMEDA COUNTY LINE

"With the release of its third CD, Alameda County Line, the Bay Area's own Red Meat confirms itself as not only the best local representative of the no frills honky-tonk Central Valley traditions of Bakersfield (Merle Haggard, Buck Owens) and Modesto (Maddox Brothers and Rose), but one of the best country bands working outside the pop constraints of Nashville, period." ­ SF Bay Guardian

RED MEAT 13

"There's not a whiff of artifice – just the joy of making classic-sounding country." ­ Los Angeles Times

"13 is a lucky number for everybody who thinks country music's been going downhill since the Buckaroos broke up. San-Francisco-based Red Meat sound like they stepped out of a time warp to show those smart-ass new traditionalists what old time country was really like" ­ Country Standard Time

RICK SHEA AND BRANTLEY KEARNS - TROUBLE AND ME

The album is based loosely on the connection between the music and traditions of North Carolina where Brantley grew up and the more contemporary folk and country music of California that they both have spent the better part of their lives playing.

In January 2002, Los Angeles area roots and country stalwart Rick Shea and fiddler/singer extraordinaire Brantley Kearns started ...

THE FORBIDDEN PIGS - THE OTHER WHITE MEAT

CRYBABY - Movie Soundtrack

BORDER RADIO - Movie Soundtrack