He was DIY when you were in diapers

“When you’re over 60, you supposedly don’t get better and it all goes downhill, but that’s not true,” says David Lindley, who, after four decades of fretboard adventures alongside Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan and Henry Kaiser, is continually “learning stuff that’s way above my head.” The colorful artist, endearingly referred to by Japanese fans as “feared ghost,” continues to explore the oud and other exotic instruments on the self-released studio album Big Twang, featuring his take on Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” plus some choice Warren Zevon covers. For Lindley, it’s something to compete with the “veritable empire” of recordings being put out there by YouTube’s cellphone-wielding public—which he views with some ambivalence: “It’s kinda like hoarding, and it’s also about control,” he muses. “It’s like, ‘This guy hasn’t put out a CD for a long time—I’ll make my own!’ Well, thanks so much.” Opening up is former Groovie Ghoulies frontman Kepi, who has a double-disc (one acoustic, one rock) CD slated for May release on Asian Man Records.