Phil and Dave Alvin

Phil and Dave Alvin created whitehot rockabilly with The Blasters and notched a permanent mark upon American music in the ‘80s as singer and principal songwriter, respectively. The blues-savvy band from Downey, California fused foundational favorites like Big Joe Turner and Big Bill Broonzy with sharp playing, rafter-rattling vocals, Bakersfield twang and punk spirit.

The brothers guided The Blasters through four studio albums. Dave departed following 1985’s “Hard Line” for solo work. The pair spent years apart professionally, but their musical reputations remained as bound as their positions on the family tree. Younger sibling Dave addressed this by drafting Phil for a cheeky duet called “What’s Upwith Your Brother?” on 2011’s “Eleven Eleven.”

A 2012 health scare during which Phil actually flat-lined in a Spanish hospital after a Blasters gig finally motivated the pair to reconvene in earnest. 2014’s “Common Ground” explored the work of a shared hero. “We argue sometimes, but we never argue about Big Bill Broonzy,” Dave had said in a press statement.

One year later, Dave and Phil return with the aptly named “Lost Time.” The duo reconnects over spirited and stylish homages to Lead Belly, Big Joe Turner, and more. Phil even tackles the James Brown showstopper “Please, Please, Please,” and Dave couldn’t be more proud.

“We had to approach that very respectfully,” says Dave. “It’s like when you’re on a hike and you see a rattlesnake. You know you’ve got to walk by it, but you don’t know how you’re going to do it. There’s not that many people [who] can do James Brown justice, and Phil does a pretty damn good ‘Please, Please, Please.’ He means it when he’s singing that thing.”

Dave takes the lead vocal on “Sit Down, Baby,” a union song and civil rights anthem recorded in 1956 by Otis Rush and written by Chicago blues legend Willie Dixon. “In the ’80s, we taped the Soundstage special for PBS at the Metro,” says Dave. “They told us, ‘You can have two guest artists, anybody you want.’ We figured we had to have somebody representing Chicago, so we asked for Willie.”

The Blasters had considered adding “Sit Down, Baby” to their own repertoire. “We didn’t, but I always dug the lick,” says Dave. “Willie told me about this extra verse that he had written, which was the one about Rosa Parks. Way back when Otis Rush sang it, Willie had decided that verse might hurt the record’s chances. I figured we’d finally use it for Willie.”

Phil and Dave Alvin, with Dead Rock West, 7: 30 p. m. Oct. 13, SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston. $32 – $48. Visit evanstonspace.com.