Shaped by influences ranging from Leadbelly to Frank Zappa, guitarist, singer and songwriter Alvin Youngblood Hart roams and rambles through a rich musical landscape of roots and blues, waltz time and western swing, upbeat ska and avant-garde. A musician's musician who follows his muse without regard to genre boundaries, Alvin has won numerous awards since his 1996 debut, including a W.C Handy Award for Best New Blues Artist and critics poll awards from Living Blues and Downbeat Magazine, not to mention a Grammy nomination, for his work on albums like the all-acoustic Big Mama's Door and his most recent, the new southern rock classic Start With the Soul. Over the past two years, Oakland native Alvin has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe, and has supported musicians ranging from Neil Young and Los Lobos to blues greats John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, and Gatemouth Brown.