Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy

It took a near-death experience for brothers Dave and Phil Alvin to reconcile and record an entire album together for the first time since The Blasters’ Hard Line album in 1985. Older brother Phil had to be revived after losing his pulse in 2012. The brothers soon put aside their issues and went back to the music of bluesman Big Bill Broonzy, who’d been a big part of their lives ever since Phil brought home his first Broonzy album in the early ‘60s. Common Ground works through Broonzy’s 30-year career, with songs that show the various styles and moods that the bluesman brought to his country blues. Blasters pianist Gene Taylor joins the sessions, along with members of Dave’s band—drummer Lisa Pankratz and bassist Brad Fordham—on certain tracks, with bassist Bob Glaub and drummer Don Heffington assisting on other tracks. The guitar work is, naturally, stunning throughout. Vocals are shared, with Phil being the more expressive singer and Dave providing a dark, throaty counterbalance like the reaper himself on tunes such as “Southern Flood Blues,” “Key to the Highway," and “You’ve Changed.”