Multi-instrumentalist David Lindley performs music that redefines the word “eclectic.”
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 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. And that show will appear in the Tidemark Theatre on Tuesday, Jan. 6
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.
Between 1967 and 1971 Lindley founded and led what must now be seen as the first world music rock band, the Kaleidoscope. In 1971, Mr. Dave 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.
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 others.
At his expansive and eclectic live performances David Lindley consistently gives one of the most unique concert experiences available to adventuresome music listeners.
Lindley’s show at the Tidemark Theatre on Jan. 6 is a presentation of the Tidemark Theatre and Vancouver Island MusicFest.
Tickets are $32 plus taxes and fees and can be purchased at the Box Office from Tuesday – Saturday between 12 and 4 p.m. Tickets are also available online from www.islandmusicfest.com and www.tidemarktheatre.com .