Additional personnel: Greg Leisz (slide guitar, dobro, mandolin); Brantley Kearns (fiddle, background vocals); John "Juke" Logan (harmonica); David Jackson (acoustic & electric bass).

Recorded at My Place Or Yours Studio, Glendale, California in April 2000. Includes liner notes by Dave Alvin.

PUBLIC DOMAIN won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.

Personnel: Rick Shea (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin); Gregory Boaz (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Greg Leisz (slide guitar, dobro, mandolin); Brantley Kearns (fiddle); Joe Terry (accordion, piano, harmonium, organ); Mark Linett (recorder).

Audio Mixer: Mark Linett.

Recording information: My Place Or Yours Studio, lGlendale, CA (04/2000).

Drawing from the mother lode of traditional songs in the public domain, songwriter Dave Alvin brings an authentic voice and extraordinary understanding to his chosen tracks. Familiar songs from the folk canon like "Shenandoah" and "Walk Right In" are reworked by him and a full band with arrangements incorporating the roadhouse style they've honed from years of working together. He also unearthed lesser-known songs like "Mama, Ain't Long for Day" (perhaps credited to Blind Willie McTell), "Sign of Judgment," and "Railroad Bill," having learned versions from records he unearthed as a kid by obscure artists: from Will Bennett to Kid Prince Moore. This is the work of a scholar as well as a master craftsman. ~ Denise Sullivan

Dave Alvin has carved out a body of work as lasting as the Rocky Mountains. With PUBLIC DOMAIN, he set his sights on the timeless songs in the public domain. From obscure origins and shadow-filled histories, these songs have endured thanks to the people who keep them alive by singing them.

Dave Alvin's deep and resonant voice has grown more facile with each ensuing year. It's become a confident instrument he wields with subtle vigor. Alvin's choice of material energized not only him, but also his parcel of like-minded, rough and tumble bandmates. The songs can roll along with chugging grooves ("Maggie Campbell") or be cast in crystalline elegance ("Short Life Of Trouble"). These 15 songs are doorways into the passions, daring, honesty, grief, regrets, lust, and redemption that are our shared humanity.