When influential alt-country magazine No Depression (RIP) overlooked Wilco, Emmylou Harris, and many other deserving and better know acts to name Alejandro Escovedo “Artist of the Decade,” the magazine’s co-founder Grant Alden explained that Escovedo was just one of those artists you went to the mat for. People like to pull for Alejandro Escovedo. When he was diagnosed with potentially life-threatening Hepatitis C a few years ago, fans and fellow-musicians banded together to raise money for his health expenses. Alejandro is not just a musician, he’s a cause.
Despite piles of critical accolades, more than a decade on everyone’s “best band you’re not listening to” list, and even a spot on President Bush’s I-Pod, Alejandro’s fans have yet to enjoy the vindication of seeing the 57-year old Austin roots rock icon achieve widespread fame. But, with a Today show appearance scheduled tomorrow to celebrate the release of an excellent new album and a summer tour opening for the Dave Matthews Band, his fans may finally get their wish.
Alejandro’s newest album, Real Animal is among the finest in a catalogue of very fine albums. Real Animal, which is available in stores tomorrow, sounds in many ways like a career retrospective rather than a new evolution.
Real Animal reflects the variety of Alejandro’s musical experience (he fronted a punk band called the Nuns early in his career). The album-opener “Always a Friend,” is a foot-stomping post-punk anthem while “Sister Lost Soul” reflects more closely the alt-country aesthetic for which he is best known.
In his live show, Alejandro combines plaintive ballads, foot-stomping country in the key of Texas, and straightforward rock with a real talent for storytelling. Between songs and in them, Alejandro enthralls with sometimes touching, often funny, and always honest yarns of his life and the people in it.
Escovedo possesses a remarkable ability to say so much using the simple tools of song. The ballad “I Was Drunk,” from the 1999 album Bourbonitis Blues, was inspired by the exploits of a friend notorious for getting sloshed and kicked out of bars. As he was pitched out onto the sidewalk, the friend would call out the name of his patient and understanding wife. From these unlikely ingredients, Escovedo creates an intensely soulful love song that crashes with the cacophony of drunken confusion as he sings “I was drunk,” then resolves melodically as he sings “I called out your name.” In that transition, the heart and essence of a human connection is captured in a most unexpected and moving way.
Alejandro Escovedo’s songs tell the stories of the beauty, weirdness and heartbreak of life with an honesty and humility that makes him not only one of the best musicians you’re not listening to, but one of the greatest national treasures you haven’t heard of.
LIVE: The Today Show (Tue Jun 24)
LIVE: Sat Jul 12 @ 9:30 Club ($20)
ALBUM: Real Animal (out Jun 24)
http://www.alejandroescovedo.com/
http://www.myspace.com/alejandroescovedo
Despite piles of critical accolades, more than a decade on everyone’s “best band you’re not listening to” list, and even a spot on President Bush’s I-Pod, Alejandro’s fans have yet to enjoy the vindication of seeing the 57-year old Austin roots rock icon achieve widespread fame. But, with a Today show appearance scheduled tomorrow to celebrate the release of an excellent new album and a summer tour opening for the Dave Matthews Band, his fans may finally get their wish.
Alejandro’s newest album, Real Animal is among the finest in a catalogue of very fine albums. Real Animal, which is available in stores tomorrow, sounds in many ways like a career retrospective rather than a new evolution.
Real Animal reflects the variety of Alejandro’s musical experience (he fronted a punk band called the Nuns early in his career). The album-opener “Always a Friend,” is a foot-stomping post-punk anthem while “Sister Lost Soul” reflects more closely the alt-country aesthetic for which he is best known.
In his live show, Alejandro combines plaintive ballads, foot-stomping country in the key of Texas, and straightforward rock with a real talent for storytelling. Between songs and in them, Alejandro enthralls with sometimes touching, often funny, and always honest yarns of his life and the people in it.
Escovedo possesses a remarkable ability to say so much using the simple tools of song. The ballad “I Was Drunk,” from the 1999 album Bourbonitis Blues, was inspired by the exploits of a friend notorious for getting sloshed and kicked out of bars. As he was pitched out onto the sidewalk, the friend would call out the name of his patient and understanding wife. From these unlikely ingredients, Escovedo creates an intensely soulful love song that crashes with the cacophony of drunken confusion as he sings “I was drunk,” then resolves melodically as he sings “I called out your name.” In that transition, the heart and essence of a human connection is captured in a most unexpected and moving way.
Alejandro Escovedo’s songs tell the stories of the beauty, weirdness and heartbreak of life with an honesty and humility that makes him not only one of the best musicians you’re not listening to, but one of the greatest national treasures you haven’t heard of.
LIVE: The Today Show (Tue Jun 24)
LIVE: Sat Jul 12 @ 9:30 Club ($20)
ALBUM: Real Animal (out Jun 24)
http://www.alejandroescovedo.com/
http://www.myspace.com/alejandroescovedo
