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Alejandro Escovedo



Last Updated: 12/27/2009

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Status: Single
City: AUSTIN
State: Texas
Country: US
Signup Date: 4/24/2006

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009 
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My good friend Amy Cook has a new record coming out in the spring.  You can hear the track “Hotel Lights” on iTunes. 

Please go to Amy's website and enter your email address to download this track for free!


The track features guest vocals from Patty Griffin and a very cool arrangement by Tosca String Quartet, off of her upcoming record, "Let the Light In", produced by Alejandro Escovedo.
11:39 PM 
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Monday, December 07, 2009 
Hey everybody! Nakia here…

Back in September, I posted a story about Alejandro Escovedo inviting me to sing with him at the recent Buick MacKane reunion show at Hole In The Wall. In that post I talked about bumping into Al at this year’s HAAM Benefit Day performance at Whole Foods. That day he mentioned he was preparing for a long series of shows at Austin’s legendary, Continental Club. A residency where he would be working out material for the new record he is working on. He invited me to stop by and sing some tunes with him and so I have been.

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Alejandro & Nakia singing "Beast of Burdon" at Sessions on South Congress at Austin's Continental Club.

These shows have been dubbed the South Congress Sessions and each Tuesday night at 10PM, Alejandro and guitarist, David Pulkingham break out 2-3 brand new tunes on acoustic guitar, then call the rest of the band up to work ‘em out loud and plugged in. So far there have been three of these and it sounds like Al & company will be at the Continental every Tuesday possibly through January, but I wouldn’t wait to get out there. The line to get in has been over a block long the last two weeks!!

I can’t recommend these shows enough. It’s truly Alejandro at his finest and the band is really on fire with Hector Muñoz on drums, David Pulkingham on guitar, and Bobby Daniel on bass. There’s talk of even adding myself and the Fresh Up Girls to some of the new tunes.

Adding to the cool factor of these sessions is that Alejandro has been choosing the acts to follow him. So far he’s had the Frank Mustard Project, Amy Cook (Look for the Alejandro produced new album soon!), and this past week the explosive Hacienda from San Antonio. On board are acts like Grady, Tom Gilliam, Stone Twisted (featuring Alex Ruiz of Del Castillo), and more!



By KiaChia 

11:49 PM 
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Sunday, December 06, 2009 
Alejandro Escovedo was in studio Q for a chat and two performances from his album 'Real Animal'.  To watch and listen, click on the link below:

http://videos.apnicommunity.com/Video,Item,180480219.html
9:37 PM 
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Tuesday, December 01, 2009 
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Alejandro Escovedo's 2008 release Real Animal easily topped my Albums of the Year list last year. It probably would have popped up on this list as well if not for Alejandro's tremendous 2001 effort A Man Under the Influence. Of course, I'm limiting myself to one album per artist on this list. This has to be the one.

It will probably be hard for me to articulate exactly why this album is one of my favorites. I always find it especially hard to write about Alejandro's music because of the complexity it presents. In doing research for this post, I found separate reviews that compared parts of this album to Hank Williams Sr., Leonard Cohen, John Cale, and The Rolling Stones. It's hard to believe that one album or one artist could possibly conjure up comparisons to such a diverse group of artists... but this album does.

Alejandro expertly captures Williams' heartbreak, Cohen's poetry, Cale's punk experimentalism, and The Stones' Rock & Roll swagger. He does it all while also creating his own sound of textured, Austin roots rock. There is a reason No Depression magazine named Alejandro their artist of the decade for the 1990's.

As for the themes presented on the album... It would be easy, given Alejandro's well publicized history with drug and alcohol abuse, to assume that the title referred to being under the influence of some sort of narcotics or distilled spirits. Closer inspections, though, reveal the songwriter to be affected by the far more intoxicating influence of love in all of its forms.

In some cases, it's the love of an idea that motivates the characters in the songs. The album opens with "Wave," a song based on the story of how Alejandro's father first came to the United States from Mexico. Alejandro's grandparents had left for the States when Alejandro's father was very young. As a boy, Alejandro's father would go to the local train yard with his grandmother to wave at the trains as they left to journey across the border. They would wave to those who, like Alejandro's grandparents, had snuck aboard the trains in an attempt to find a better life, and a better way to provide for their families. When he was twelve years old, Alejandro's father jumped on one of those trains motivated by the idea of seeing his parents again and joining them in their new land. He never told his grandmother what he was about to do, and she was left behind, not knowing that she was waving at the train that carried her grandson away.

The album continues with "Rosalie," a tender song that tells of a love carried out through letters between two lovers separated by a border and miles of desert. The love fades, however, in "Across the River" as Alejandro is forced to ask the question, "What kind of love destroys another?"

In fact, most of the tunes on this album deal with heartbreak in one way or another. "Rhapsody" reads as an apology to a departing lover even though the narrator can never seem to find just the proper way to express himself. In the plaintive "Don't Need You" the singer sounds as though he is trying to convince himself of that fact rather than actually declare the statement to someone else.

Even my favorite track on the album, the fiery "Castanets," finds Alejandro dealing with inflamed passions for a woman he can't stand to be around. He begins by running through a list of things he loves about this woman... her tangled hair, the sunshine on her dress, the way she "turns me on like a pick up truck." In the end though, this is a woman who drives him so crazy that he finds he likes "her better when she walks away." This song is built around a Hall of Fame worthy guitar riff and is not only my favorite song on the album, but also one of my favorites of all time.

This is easily the most complex album on this list and one that is worth spending some time with. I think that's what it takes to full come to appreciate this one. Alejandro and producer Chris Stamey created an album that possesses layers and layers of sound and rewards multiple listens.


By Nelson - A Fifty Cent Lighter & A Whiskey Buzz

http://fiftycentlighter.blogspot.com/2009/12/top-10-americana-albums-of-decade-3-man.html
10:20 PM 
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Friday, November 13, 2009 
For an interview from WUNC, North Carolina Public Radio, click on the links below.  Many thanks to Frank Stasio, host for the interview.

http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot1113abc09.mp3

http://www.wunc.org/programs/tsot/


11:13 PM 
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009 
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Photo by Dave Prewitt


Expanding from the roots-rock world outward, Alejandro Escovedo is many things to many people—including a musical melting pot. As Ira Robbins of Trouser Press puts it, he's "a one-man travelogue of places, eras and styles." Escovedo hit both coasts in the '70s before settling in Texas, journeys that no doubt contributed to his multifaceted, multicultural approach to rock music. His sound is a study in dynamics and extremes, his work personal and profound. To witness him move from the hushed confessions of his solo outings to the beautiful thunderstorms he stirs up with various glam-twang ensembles and the speaker-trembling Buick MacKane is to be awed by his ability to revel in both the glory that's found in words and the glory that's found in noise. He's clearly signed on as a music lifer—it's not for nothing that his '80s Austin-based band was named True Believers. And though his work caused No Depression magazine to proclaim him Artist of the Decade for the '90s, last year's hard-riffing Real Animal demonstrated that he still has plenty in the tank. Sharing the bill is Lambchop, exemplifiers of the more-is-less-is-more phenomenon. Its overflowing roster somehow equates to less sound clutter and more space for Kurt Wagner's parlor room-soul vocals. At Reynolds Industries Theater.



By Rick Cornell - indyweek.com

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A405503

10:26 PM 
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Monday, November 02, 2009 
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Guitarist Alejandro Escovedo has been through a lot over the course of a career that's lasted nearly 30 years. He started in the seminal San Francisco punk act the Nuns, who had the distinction of opening for the Sex Pistols on their single, disastrous U.S. tour; he went on to become one of the founding fathers of alt-country with Austin-based bands Rank and File and the True Believers in the 80's. 

After nearly succumbing to hepatitis C in the late 90's, Escovedo bounced back, and at nearly 60 years old, he took the stage at Voodoo looking fit, if battle-scarred. With his face half obscured by dark shades, fronting a band clad all in black, he tore through a razor-sharp, take-no-prisoners set of buzzy, blistering country-tinged punk rock n'roll. 

The band left the stage a good half-hour before they were scheduled to, but returned for a two-song encore. Up till then, they day had been blustery, but sunny, hot and humid. But as he unleashed the stomping, honky-tonk rhythm of "Castanets," the sky began to darken. When he dedicated the closer, David Bowie's "All The Young Dudes," to Iggy Pop, a cold wind suddenly snaked through the crowd. And as he left the stage, the first chilly raindrops began to fall.

The man in black and his vicious guitar were gone. The storm howled in, soaking City Park. Night fell.

Can you control the weather with rock n' roll?


6:09 PM 
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Tuesday, October 13, 2009 
October 13, 2009 (New York) – Alejandro Escovedo is a rock star.  Even though he may not be a household name, in a world of wannabes he’s got the goods.  On Sunday night at the Highline Ballroom on West 16th Street, sandwiched in between Texas newcomers Hacienda and headliners Los Lonely Boys, Escovedo showed the youngsters how it’s done.

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Escovedo has been around for ages.  He began his career when most of today’s rockers weren’t even born, in the mid-70’s in San Francisco’s Nuns and then the True Believers.  As a solo artist in recent years he’s claimed Bruce Springsteen, Beck, Los Lobos and a host of other luminaries as fans and released several classic albums, including Gravity, Bourbonitis Blues, Boxing Mirror and last year’s Real Animal. 
He’s got the look, the swagger and the presence.  But more importantly he’s got the voice.  And the songs.

After surviving Hepatitis C six years ago you could expect Escovedo to be a shell of a performer.  In fact he commands the stage, and seems at once legendary as a result of the tight, intense performance of his stellar songs and a regular guy via his relaxed, unassuming banter with the audience.

Escovedo played an acoustic set, backed by violinist Susan Voelz and guitarist David Pulkingham, but rocked hard.  Three songs from Real Animal and a smattering of classics over about 40 minutes and he was gone.  Amazing.

Pity poor Los Lonely Boys who had to follow Escovedo’s set.



By Jeff Slate - examiner.com  New York City, October 13, 2009

9:23 PM 
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009 
About a week ago I saw Alejandro Escovedo in an amazing early morning performance at Whole Foods in support of HAAM Benefit Day. It was phenomenal for sure. Afterward, I said hello and out of the blue, Al says, “When you gonna come sing with us?” to which I quickly replied, “When & where?” - LOL! He mentioned they would be starting up a new residency at the Continental Club in November and December and to “brush up on my Stones.”
I went off to my workout over at Castle Hill and didn’t think much more of it.

Then Saturday after my show at Jovita’s, I rushed over to catch his band Buick MacKane’s much talked about reunion show at Hole In The Wall. Simply put it was the best rock show I have seen in years and certainly the best one in Austin since moving here in ‘02. I can’t believe people used to get to see this all the time! I arrived toward the middle of the set and went straight up front to join my friends Nanette and Roggie. Everyone was there. It seemed like 500 people were packed in that room and the guitars were wailing so loud I had heard them as I approached the building a half a block away.

At the end of the set, Al cut into some real rock and the band started up “All The Young Dudes.” As I looked up, Al looked at me and then looked over at the mic as he looked back and nodded me up. I have to admit, at first I looked around to make sure he was talking to me. I kinda did the “Are you sure” look and he nodded again, so I hopped up. He pointed me to David Fairchild’s mic and the song kicked in. Almost immediately, Paul Minor was on stage behind me with that famous grin of his. We sang a chorus together and as I turned to look back at Joe Eddy Hines jangling a riff, I saw Matt Meshbane take the stage as well. After a quick hug, Matt moved over to the mic with Paul and I backed off and joined Alejandro on his mic for a chorus or two. At that point it was a blur.

As the song ended, I thanked Al and he told me “Stick around - we’re going to do Shine A Light.” I thanked him and took my place again up front. I think it was Raoul Hernandez from the Austin Chronicle who helped me down from the stage and I remember saying something stupid like, “Holy shit!” or “Oh my God!” Two more songs and Shine A Light came up and Al looked down at me as he said, “We’re gonna need some backup on this one,” and this time he pointed at me and waived me up. He told me to introduce myself and then he called for the crowd to give me a hand. It was sweet of him to say the least.

The song started, Al began to sing and my skin was covered in goosebumps. This was unlike any experience I had known yet on stage. I can’t explain it really, but it certainly is a credit to Alejandro’s level of talent and cool. As the chorus approached he looked over to me and I let out the best chorus I had in me and I was lost in the moment. Thank God that DaveTV.org was there to film it all and snap pics. It’s times like these that I never ever want to forget.


By Nakia Reynoso

http://nakia.net/2009/09/29/nakia-sings-with-alejandro-escovedo-buick-mackane/

5:34 PM 
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Sunday, September 27, 2009 
I didn’t get the license number of the vehicle that plowed me over Saturday at the Hole In the Wall, but I got a make and model: Buick MacKane. Have these guys, who have played only a couple shows in the past five years, been secretly practicing for months? That was one of the best rock n’ roll club shows I’ve seen in a long time, as the four-piece turned the Drag into the Bowery.

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Although Alejandro Escovedo is the frontman of this marrow-massaging ‘90s garage/ glam rock band, drummer Glenn Benavides (ex- Doctors Mob) is the driver, thundering in such relentless manner that Escovedo called him “the Mexican John Bonham” and nobody laughed.

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It was Benavides’ birthday and he blew out, no, moved enough air, to extinguish the candles on a set that mixed revved-up Escovedo oldies (“The End,” “Gravity,” “She Got”), with glittery classics (“All the Young Dudes”) and Buick originals (“Queen Anne”). Just like the old days, bassist Dave Fairchild stepped up to deliver “Supersonic” by Oasis, an unlikely cover for these louts.

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There are at least two Alejandros. One is the socially-conscious rock poet in touch with his inner self.  Another one is the guy from Buick, who asked “Wasn’t that (expletive) great?” after opening number “The End” and talked trash between the nuggets that didn’t rub together. (Band of Heathens has replaced Poi Dog Pondering as this year’s whipping boys). A Buick show is like Halloween without the costumes: you get to be what you really want to be for a night. In Escovedo’s case, that’s the midpoint between Johnny Thunders and Don Rickles.

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With the extremely underrated Joe Eddy Hines trading guitar licks with Escovedo, Thin Lizzy style, this was the kind of show that made you feel 20 years younger. The packed audience of about 200 was definitely reliving glory years, especially on a version of “Loose” that, here comes the blasphemy, at least equaled the Stooges original. And that’s Iggy’s best song!

The cover was $3. The music was as loud and loose and full of swagger as in the band’s heyday, when they rocked the Hole as hard as it’s ever been rocked.
Anyone who still questions that Austin is the live music capital of the world wasn’t at the Hole Saturday night.



By Michael Corcoran - austin360.com
9:51 PM 
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