Dave Alvin: Public Domain (Hightone)
Dave Alvin is one of the giants of American roots music, a man who once led the mighty Blasters and then turned to solo projects full of integrity and plain good songwriting. For this album he trawls through American's folk tradition, hence the title, selecting a range of songs that veer from the familiar - Shenandoah and Walk Right In - to the strange and obscure (at least for me) Murder of the Lawson Family and Texas Rangers. There are 11 other tracks from all shades of America's racial and cultural palette. All are treated with respect by Alvin and his band, the Guilty Men - "a lot of what is good, and bad, about us is in these songs", he says in the sleeve notes - though the songs would have benefited from contextualisation.