Inyo Council for the Arts

2-28-2008

Multi-instrumentalist David Lindley performs music that redefines the word “eclectic,” and he’ll be coming to Bishop to entertain local music fans.

Lindley, well known for his many years as the featured accompanist with Jackson Browne, and leader of his own band El Rayo-X, has long championed the concept of world music. The David Lindley electro-acoustic performance effortlessly combines American folk, blues and bluegrass traditions with elements from African, Arabic, Asian, Celtic, Malagasy and Turkish musical sources.
Lindley has performed several times at the annual Millpond Music Festival, most recently in 2006 and 2003.  In addition to his own set in 2003, he sat in with The Blind Boys of Alabama, having recently recorded on their album “Spirit of the Century,” which brought them their first Grammy award.
 He will be performing at Inyo Council for the Arts on Thursday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the show are on sale now for $20.

Renowned multi-instrumental artist David Lindley will be performing at the Inyo Council for the Arts next month. Photo courtesy Inyo Council for the Arts

Lindley incorporates an incredible array of stringed instruments including but not limited to Kona and Weissenborn Hawaiian lap steel guitar, Turkish saz and chumbus, Middle Eastern oud and Irish bouzouki. The eye-poppingly clad “Mr. Dave’s” uncanny vocal mimicry and demented sense of humor make his onstage banter a highlight of the show.
Lindley grew up in Southern California, first taking up the banjo as a teenager, and subsequently winning the annual Topanga Canyon banjo and fiddle contest five times as he explored the American folk music tradition. Between 1967 and 1971 Lindley founded and led what must now be seen as the first world music rock band, the Kaleidoscope. In 1971, Lindley joined forces with Jackson Browne, serving as Jackson’s most significant musical co-conspirator until 1981. In 1979, Lindley had begun working with old friend Ry Cooder on “Bop Till you Drop” and “The Long Riders” sound track, a musical collaboration that lasts to this day, and has spawned many recording projects and several world tours as an acoustic duo.
In 1981, Lindley created his own remarkable band, El Rayo-X, which integrated American roots music and world beat with a heavy reggae influence. The results were albums “El Rayo-X,” “Win This Record” and “Very Greasy,” as well as a live e.p. During this period he also came forth with a solo album, “Mr. Dave.” Lindley and guitarist Henry Kaiser went to Madagascar for two weeks in 1991 and recorded six albums of indigenous Malagasy music (including two collaborative CDs, “A World Out of Time” volumes one and two on Shanachie) which proved to have a major impact on the world music scene, both for the quality of the Grammy-nominated music recorded, and the fair and ethical way the Malagasy musicians were dealt with. Throughout this long and distinguished career, Lindley has been one of Hollywood’s most in-demand session musicians, lending his skills to the recorded works of Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Crosby and Nash, Warren Zevon, and many others.
For more tickets or more information, call ICA at (760) 873-8014.