When Chris Gaffney died, Dave Alvin lost both a close friend and the
frontman of his band, the Guilty Men. Alvin formed the Guilty Women to
perform at a festival last fall because, he said, he couldn’t bear
seeing the empty spot onstage where Gaffney used to stand.
The women surrounded Alvin with such ease that he decided to record
this album (released in May) and take them all on tour. An empty spot
does haunt him, though; violinist Amy Farris died unexpectedly less
than a month ago.
This music may seem more poignant because of the backstory, but it
stands on its own. Alvin meant to have women back him—no girlies
here—and he’s turned his always-impressive songwriting chops to
some womanly topics.
Former Picketts vocalist Christy McWilson is a Patsy Cline/Rosemary
Clooney for the new millennium. Her voice cracks and growls out a
patina of hard knocks. Veteran Cindy Cashdollar’s steel guitar genius
gleams throughout, and first-call country drummer Lisa Pankratz drives
a truckload of tempos, from the opening, Cajun booty-shaker, “Marie
Marie,” through the hot swing of “Boss of the Blues” and the quiet folk
of “Potter’s Field.”
Alvin’s most impressive turn is the guitar jam on “Don’t Make
Promises.” It’s pointedly testosterone-free, but the technique and the
emotion are as powerful as his most macho fireworks.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.