TECH TALK

If someone were to write the history of L.A.’s musical scene from the late ’70s to the present, Dave Alvin would be the subject of a chapter or two. The quiet, soft-spoken songwriter/guitarist has been as important a figure as anyone in terms of establishing credibility in a city whose integrity-after the glorious ’60s—was undermined by hype and critical disgust with the empty calories of the corporate “rock” image and sound.