Top

music

Stories

 
Text Size: A A A

Hear This

Alvin Youngblood Hart
Good folk singers and blues musicians know their history; better ones are confident enough in their talents to mess around with it. Firmly in the latter category, Alvin Youngblood Hart is a virtuoso on guitar, dobro, and lap steel who happily jumps across musical boundaries: At one of his recent San Francisco shows, the former Oakland resident (he's since moved to Memphis) was calling up Leadbelly, the Louvin Brothers, "Gallows Pole," and the Rolling Stones in equal measure. The proud owner of a rich and booming voice, he gives the songs on his second album, Territory, an authentic feel without sounding coldly archival, breathing life into old standards like "John Hardy" and his own original homages to country blues. And there's room left over for a headlong leap into absurdist Americana, with a searing cover of Captain Beefheart's "Ice Rose."

Much like the ballads on The Anthology of American Folk Music that plainly influence him, Hart's best moments are the scariest ones, like his extended tale of a racist murder in the South, "Countrycide," sustaining the moody, dramatic feel for nearly 10 minutes. As poetic and romantically American as a WPA guide, he maps out Southern musical highways you thought were left for dead, or worse, for musicologists.

-- Mark Athitakis

Alvin Youngblood Hart plays Friday, Sept. 18, at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. at Biscuits & Blues, 401 Mason. Tickets are $12.50; call 292-BLUE. He also appears Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m. at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, 1111 Addison, Berkeley. Tickets are $13.50-14.50; call (510) 548-1761.

 

more by

  • The Fanboy Crusade

    Why a San Francisco comic-shop owner is trying to sue the pants off of Spider-Man's owners -- to the tune of $18 million

  • A Breath of Fresh Air

    Amulya Malladi pulls off the difficult task of writing a love story centered on the deadly 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India

  • How dangerous is Al Qaeda in America?

    A public service message brought to you by the U.S. Justice Department, SF Weekly, and other patriots

  • Read It and Weep

    In answer to the Chronicle, we submit our own list of things that make us cry

  • The Olden Gays

    Historic home movies capture gay life in San Francisco from the 30's onward

Write Your Comment

*indicates required fields. Please enable browser cookies before filling out this form. All reader comments are subject to our Terms of Use. By clicking Add Comment, you acknowledge that you have reviewed and agree to these Terms.

Comments may take a few minutes to process and appear on the site. Please do not click the "Add Comment" button again while your comment is being added.

  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *

    (The four characters are not case sensitive):

Music Recommendations

User content provided by LikeMe.net + Village Voice

Absinthe

San Francisco, CA

Pier 23 Cafe

San Francisco, CA

Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant

San Francisco, CA

Tommy's Joynt

San Francisco, CA

Cha Cha Cha

San Francisco, CA

21st Amendment

San Francisco, CA
Give your recommendations on LikeMe.net >>

SF Weekly on Digg