Blaster From the Past

Publicist Peggy Jones is having too much fun. Her “Sings Like Hell” series at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara is doing very well, thank you.

The series came about when Jones made a list of her favorite musicians, an eclectic bunch, and invited them, one at a time, to show up once a month to perform and meet the audience afterward.

Tonight’s rock star in residence is Dave Alvin and his band the Guilty Men. Opening is Kate Campbell whom Jones equates with “LSD for the ears,” so watch that drive home.

Tonight’s show will be the party ender for the initial six-gig “Sings Like Hell” series, which began last summer with Peter Case. Phase II begins in February with Michael Franti and Alvin Youngblood Hart. There is a $90 subscription price for the next six shows, or tickets are available on a per-show basis at $19.50, which is about a third the cost of a Rolling Stones’ ticket, with significantly less traffic.

Dave Alvin has written a ton of American music classics for a variety of bands and has recorded five solo albums over the last decade. Many of his songs have been performed by rock stars.

Alvin, his brother Phil and some childhood pals formed the Blasters, a band that blazed out of Downey in 1980 with a bunch of roots-rock albums, with most of the songs written by Dave, who also played guitar. Despite universal acclaim from the critics, who obviously didn’t buy enough albums, the band never made it big. Brother Phil still leads the band, but Dave left in 1986.

Next for Dave was a two-year gig with X and the band’s acoustic alter egos, the Knitters. Between incessant touring in support of his own albums, Alvin actually survived a tour with the Pleasure Barons, a collection of guys from different bands including wild men Country Dick Montana and Mojo Nixon.

Alvin’s latest is a live recording of “Interstate City,” featuring songs spanning his entire career. During a recent phone interview, Alvin discussed the latest, plus throwing in some Lobero Theatre history.

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It’s 7 o’clock at night, so is this like morning for you?

No, man it’s like 7 o’clock at night.

So did the last album make you a rich rock star?

I’m the richest, baby. I’m hanging out with Michael Jackson these days.

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How is “Interstate City” different than what came before, or is it more of the same?

It’s real different. The one before was kind of a quiet acoustic record, and this one is loud, distorted rock ‘n’ roll. I’ve had this band for about four years, and different combinations of them have played on all of my records. They can do about anything I throw at them like turn from a hard R&B; thing to a folky thing, and as a songwriter, I like that. Otherwise, when you have guys who tell you “Oh, I can’t do that,” then I can’t do my whole repertoire.

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How come the Blasters didn’t get rich?

I dunno--you tell me. It was fun. I remember once back in 1982, we did get banned from the Lobero Theatre. X and Black Flag had played Santa Barbara, but the Blasters got banned. Different kinds of people showed up to our show at the Lobero, some wanted to swing dance, but others wanted to dive off the stage and make a mosh pit. A couple of chairs got uprooted. We figured it was hard enough to play, but it was even harder to be policemen.

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So why did you leave the Blasters?

It wasn’t fun anymore. We did do a political benefit show about four years ago, but as far as me and Phil on stage again? Nah.

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How did you survive the Pleasure Barons’ tour?

Barely. I ended up in the hospital. The second tour was pretty professional compared to the first one. I do miss Country Dick everyday. He was an explorer, man.

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What about X?

That was fun. I was in the band for two years, and that’s enough time. I’m an OK guitarist--I’m not Richard Thompson or Eddie Van Halen--and I’m an OK singer, but I’m not Pavarotti. But I am a pretty good songwriter, and they already had songwriters.

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How do you write a song?

I dunno, man. If I did, I’d put out an album every month. I do know that songs come from a lot of hard work. I probably have less than 100 songs, probably about 75.

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Describe Dave Alvin music.

It’s American music. It’s basically folk music with a little bit of everything thrown in. There’s blues, R&B;, country and hard-core folk. It’s folk rock, I guess.

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Who goes to see you play?

It depends. I’ve been doing a lot of acoustic work lately, so I get the singer-songwriter audience. Pretty much, there’s a line down the middle. Half come to hear the lyrics and the other half come to dance. I don’t get so many people anymore that want to hear a bunch of Blasters’ songs, but if I wrote it, I’ll play it.

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How do you handle the drunks screaming for “Free Bird”?

Well, it depends. Usually I just turn the guitar up louder. I can play louder than they can yell.

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What’s the best and worst thing about your job?

The worst thing is that traveling plays havoc with your personal life when you’re gone for seven or eight months of the year. The best thing, I guess, is that you get to be gone for seven or eight months a year. I do love playing. It’s still a challenge. I think I’ve become a better singer, a better guitarist and a different songwriter. It’s great to see people listening to the lyrics or dancing, plus I’m not stuck in traffic for three hours a day.

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So how do you survive on the road?

Color TV, cigarettes and a good air-conditioning system.

What do people misunderstand about the life of a musician?

I think it’s the constant threat of not working, and that applies to working musicians and not guys who just sit around the house and play guitar. I’ve survived doing this for 17 years now, and I’m really happy, but there’s no security and no guarantees.

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What’s next?

I’m going into the studio to record another album in January, and it’ll probably be out in June or so. Then we’ll tour again.

BE THERE

Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men and Kate Campbell tonight at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara. 8 p.m. Tickets are $19.50 advance or $22.50 at the door. (805) 963-0761.