The Birchmere

America's Legendary Music Hall

UPDATED Covid Protocols as of 7/1/22. As of July 1st, 2022, The Birchmere will no longer require patrons to present proof of Covid vaccination or a negative Covid test to attend performances. Masks are welcome, but not required. In the event that an artist requires a different policy, we will post it on the event page on our website & communicate this information directly to ticket holders ahead of the show. We will continue to monitor and adjust our policies based on current local, state, and CDC guidance. We recommend checking our website 48 hours in advance of your performance for the most up-to-date information, as policies are subject to change.  We are very grateful to our fans for the efforts they’ve made over the past two years to help us keep our concerts safe during this pandemic. If you have any questions about this policy or your ticket order, please reach out to us at birchmere@birchmere.com.

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DAVE ALVIN & JIMMIE DALE GILMORE with THE GUILTY ONES w/ Jon Langford & The Bright Shiners

August 29 @ 7:30 pm

$45.00

 

Thu. Aug. 29: DAVE ALVIN & JIMMIE DALE GILMORE with THE GUILTY ONES with special guest JON LANGFORD & THE BRIGHT SHINERS  -7:30pm-  $45.00

While Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Dave Alvin were making their second collaborative album TexiCali, Gilmore happened to dust off an old reel-to-reel tape he’d long forgotten about with a song entitled “Trying To Be Free.”Recorded in the mid-1960s while Gilmore was still playing coffee shops around Lubbock, TX, “Trying To Be Free” predates his hometown’s booming and underrated singer-songwriter scene by about a decade, but its story involves perhaps the city’s most famous musical export: Buddy Holly. After Buddy’s untimely death in 1959, his parents became something of musical patrons in Lubbock, discovering a young Jimmie Dale Gilmore while he was performing around town. Buddy’s father L.O. helped finance Gilmore’s original recording of “Trying To Be Free,” paving the way for Gilmore to break out in earnest with The Flatlanders by the early 1970s. Gilmore had forgotten all about “Trying To Be Free” when he found that old tape last year, but he brought it into his next recording session with Alvin, who loved the tune and began working with his backing band The Guilty Ones on a fresh arrangement. The result is a gripping ode to West Texas, musical beginnings, and the first people who believe in a dream.
“This song came from well before The Flatlanders,” remembers Gilmore. “It was on a demo I recorded with the T. Nickel House Band in the mid-sixties, financed by Buddy Holly’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. L. O. Holley. My wife Janet discovered it on an old reel-to-reel tape last year when she was organizing my archives. It was never on any of my commercially-released recordings and I had forgotten all about it, but Janet liked it and suggested I should show it to Dave. He and the band came up with a whole different treatment from the original recording and it became like a brand new song to me.”
Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones bring TexiCali on the road beginning this July kicking off with nine shows across California.

Details

Date:
August 29
Time:
7:30 pm
Cost:
$45.00
Website:
https://www.davealvin.net/

Venue

The Birchmere Music Hall
3701 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22305 United States
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Phone
703-549-7500