Alejandro Escovedo performs in The Current studio
by Bill DeVille and Alejandro Escovedo
November 20, 2016
With 40 years in the music business, Alejandro Escovedo has played with the Nuns, with Rank and File, and as a solo artist. He's been part of the New York, San Francisco, and Austin, Texas, music scenes. On his latest album, Burn Something Beautiful, Escovedo collaborated with R.E.M. alumni Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey. "It was a sheer pleasure," Escovedo says. "There was nothing but good vibes the whole time."
Now touring in support of the album, Escovedo — along with lead guitarist Jason Victor, bassist Aaron McClellan and drummer Shawn Peters — stopped at The Current's studio for a session hosted by Bill DeVille.
Escovedo named the album from a lyric in a song that Buck had written during their collaboration (the track appears as a bonus song on the LP). "I took that line because it represented a lot of what we're talking about on the album, not just the way we were changing, [but] the way the music industry had changed, the loss of a lot of our friends, and just the way the country was changing," Escovedo says.
Despite those themes, Escovedo says the album isn't gloomy. "A lot of people have referenced the material as being kind of dark in a way," he says. "I guess if you view death as being dark, it might seem it that way. I don't see it that way, personally. It does speak a lot about the age we're becoming."
The music has also been informed by Escovedo's brushes with death, including a serious bout with hepatitis, and, more recently, his and his wife Nancy's near-disaster in the face of category-four Hurricane Odile, which struck Mexico's Baja Peninsula on the last day of the couple's honeymoon. "It was so severe that we spent 12 hours pretty much clutching onto each other," Escovedo describes. "At one point, it seemed like we weren't going to make it … the house that we were staying in, the front of it was washed into the ocean and we were trapped."
Delayed for about a year as the couple dealt with the resulting PTSD, Burn Something Beautiful's release represents a triumph. Asked if he appreciates making albums even more, Escovedo says, "I appreciate everything more now than ever."
Use the audio player above to listen to the complete in-studio session with Alejandro Escovedo.
Songs Performed
"Heartbeat Smile"
"Johnny Volume"
"Farewell To The Good Times"
All songs from Alejandro Escovedo's 2016 album, Burn Something Beautiful, available on Fantasy Records.
Hosted by Bill DeVille
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Leah Garaas
Web feature by Luke Taylor
Resources
Alejandro Escovedo - official site
