Lost Time

"Lost time is not found again." This ancient idiom is at the heart of brothers Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin's long, tumultuous relationship. However, in Dave's own words, "Sometimes Fate, or God or the Universe, gives you a rare chance to prove an old saying is wrong." The brothers' new album, appropriately titled Lost Time, does just that.

Over Lost Time's twelve tracks, Dave and Phil pay homage to a number of artists and songs that had an early, formative influence, in Dave's words "the masters of the Blues, the most transcendental form of American music." Everyone from Lead Belly to James Brown is represented, but the figure who looms largest on the album, and in the brothers' own musical journey, is Big Joe Turner. The Alvins met Big Joe as teenagers, and he would mentor them for the remainder of his life. They remain his humble students, and cut four Turner songs for Lost Time.