Multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, known internationally for his work with Jackson Browne, and for leading  his own band El Rayo-X, will perform a solo concert at the Wheeler Theatre in Port Townsend at 7:30 on Friday evening, Feb. 8.  This concert, presented by UpWest Arts and Centrum, marks Lindley's first appearance on the Olympic Peninsula in four years.

Lindley, who has long championed the concept of world music, performs in a style that brings new meaning to the word "eclectic."  The David Lindley electro-acoustic performance effortlessly combines American folk, blues, and bluegrass traditions with elements from African, Arabic, Asian, Celtic, Malagasy, and Turkish musical sources.  Lindley incorporates an incredible array of stringed instruments including the Kona and the Weissborn Hawaiian lap steel guitar,  the Turkish saz and chumbus, as well as the Middle Eastern oud and the Irish bouzouki.  The eye-poppingly clad "Mr. Dave"'s uncanny vocal mimicry and humor make his on-stage banter a highlight of every show.

David Lindley grew up in Southern California, first taking up the banjo as a teenager, and subsequently winning the annual Topanga Canyon Banjo and Fiddle Contest five times as he explored the American folk music tradition.  Between 1967 and 1971 Lindley founded and led what must now be seen as the first world music rock band, The Kaleidoscope.  In 1971, he joined forces with Jackson Browne, serving as Jackson's most significant musical co-conspirator until 1981.  In 1979, Lindley began working with old friend Ry Cooder on Bop Till You Drop and on the Long Riders soundtrack.  Their musical collaboration lasts to this day, and has spawned many recording projects and several world tours as an acoustic duo.

In 1981, Lindley created his own remarkable band, El Rayo-X, which integrated American roots music and world beat with a heavy reggae influence.  El Rayo-X toured the world for the next eight years.  And throughout his long and distinguished career, Lindley has been one of Hollywood's most in demand session musicians, lending his skills to the recorded works of Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Crosby and Nash, Warren Zevon, and many others.

Lindley will perform one show only at 7:30 pm. Tickets are on sale at the Centrum ticket office (385-3102 x114), at the P.T. Food Co-op, at Quimper Sound Music in P.T., and online at centrum.org.