Alejandro Escovedo: Inspiring songs, stories, musical collaborations and a burning desire to ‘put on good shows’

The renowned Texas alt-country, roots rock and Americana artist plays Grand Rapids’ St. Cecilia Music Center this week as he wraps up work on a studio album with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck. (Interview, playlist)

THE ARTIST: Alejandro Escovedo Trio
THE MUSIC: Americana, rock, alt-country
WHERE YOU CAN SEE HIM: 7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids as part of the Acoustic Café Folk Series, with Lucette opening (Escovedo also plays The Ark in Ann Arbor at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday)

 

SCROLL DOWN FOR A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST OF ESCOVEDO SONGS

In four decades of writing, recording and touring – from his early days with punk rock’s The Nuns to his highly praised Americana and rootsy rock solo work – Alejandro Escovedo has embraced the acoustically pleasing atmosphere of historic theaters and the rowdy, “sweaty and hot” vibe of rock ‘n’ roll clubs.

He’s been hailed as the “Artist of the Decade” by No Depression magazine, cited by numerous musicians as a major influence and acclaimed as one of music’s best live performers, yet struggled at times to find a mainstream audience for his music.

He survived what he calls “near-death experiences for a couple of years” after being stricken with hepatitis-C, then produced some of the most inspiring material of his career, including 2006’s “Boxing Mirror,” 2008’s “Real Animal,” 2010’s “Street Songs of Love” and 2012’s “Big Station.”

All of it has been reflected in Escovedo’s poignant, powerful and political songs, which establish him as one of the country’s most important singer-songwriters of the rock ‘n’ roll era.

“A lot of what I do is storytelling. (Audiences) are getting a slice of my life without any editing,” Escovedo, 65, told Local Spins in a recent interview. “They’re all just pieces of my life.

“After I was terribly ill, I had near-death experiences for a couple of years and that will alter your perspective on life pretty dramatically. I wrote about that. ‘Real Animal’ was an attempt to tell the stories of starting a band at my age at that time.”

PLAYING THE ACOUSTIC CAFE SERIES, RECORDING A NEW ALBUM WITH PETER BUCK

Escovedo brings cellist Brian Standefer and keyboard player Sean Giddings to Grand Rapids this week, along with a passel of those riveting songs. They play the Acoustic Café Folk Series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Cecilia Music Center, with Americana/folk artist Lucette opening the show. Tickets are $30 and $35 and available online here.

The singer and guitarist – who recently moved to Dallas from Austin, where he’d lived for more than 30 years – is wrapping up his first new album in four years. He spent time last month in Portland, Ore., working with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, who’s producing the solo record and collaborating with Escovedo on songwriting. Drummer John Moen of The Decemberists also is involved in the project.

“It’s funny. In the interim between ‘Big Station’ and this album, so much has gone on personally. I got married. We were involved in a hurricane. We moved to Dallas. There have been a lot of big changes in our lives,” he said.
“There is a lot to write about and as we approached the record, I realized that we have more songs than we thought we had. I have an abundance of material this time.

“I don’t know what the eventual shape of the record will be with everything that’s happening in the world, and as we approach this election and the type of politics we’re seeing, and (terrorist attacks in) Paris and Brussels. It’s so much. At the same time, I don’t want to get too heavy about all this stuff.”

Even though he doesn’t want to get “too political,” Escovedo also insisted “there’s no way you can avoid it” as a writer. “It’s gotta come out in some way,” said Escovedo, whose punk roots and edgy rock often surface amid his alt-country leanings.

‘AMAZING’ NEW FANS AND CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS

The same goes for the music of artists who’ve shaped Escovedo’s own work over the years, from the Latin and Chicano bands he grew up with to the songs of Mott the Hoople, The Stooges, David Bowie, John Cale, Lou Reed, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, Joe Ely, Townes Van Zandt and more. Yet, Escovedo himself is no longer concerned about achieving the kind of notoriety with his own songs and albums that these artists have attracted.

“Of course, I want them to be successful and I want them to be heard, but I found myself that I don’t have all these expectations anymore,” he said. “I just want to go out and put on good shows, and figure maybe that I’ll get attention from a movie or a TV program that will help.

“I’ve heard from more people in the last four years who come up to me after shows and say, ‘I haven’t ever heard of you before, but now I’m going to go home and buy every album that you have.’ I’m getting these multi-generational audiences now, which is just amazing.”

Escovedo also has found great satisfaction in collaborating with other artists – from jazz musicians to songwriters such as Buck and alt-country’s Chuck Prophet, with whom Escovedo has co-written songs on three albums.

“I love collaborating with people. They bring a new life to it,” he said of writing and performing with top-notch musicians. “The secret is to pick the best musicians for each sound or whatever role needs to be in the band. It’s important that I never browbeat my musicians and always allow them to be better than they could even know they can be.”

That attitude and work ethic have kept Escovedo and some of his contemporaries on the road, and happy that they’re still creating vital music after all these years.

“Chuck Prophet, John Doe, Dave Alvin, Los Lobos, we all kind of started out following the same (path),” he said. “We’ve all sustained our careers by going out and playing as much as we possibly can.”

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO: The Local Spins Playlist

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