Alvie Dooms, of Ava, Missouri, is Bob Holt’s longtime preferred guitar player. Bob’s dance-driven style was particularly demanding of a guitar player, requiring precise rhythm, economical technique, and sheer stamina. Playing at blistering speeds for an entire evening is far more physically demanding for the guitarist than for the fiddler, and it’s a rare bird who could truly keep up, and create the absolutely locked-in wall of rhythm necessary to provide a foundation for the dancing.  Alvie does all of the above.

He also typifies the Ozark approach to Missouri chords, which often substitutes the VI minor for the IV in one part of a tune, giving a more plaintive, haunted edge to tunes that are played straighter if you go further north.

Besides his guitar skills, Alvie is a well-known fiddle repairman and dealer. From his repair headquarters at his kitchen table, Alvie has used his trusty penknife to set up everyone from young kids just starting out to nationally-known masters.

Alvie Dooms was a master in the Missouri Folk Arts Program's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 1991, 1992, and 2000 in backup guitar and rhythm guitar for square dances.