2010 Lineup > Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys

schedule & times subject to change.

Fri : 08:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys

Mention Alejandro Escovedo to a casual music fan, and you’ll probably get a shrug of indifference.
But mention him to fans of punk, alt-country, blazing guitar-rock or confessional string-quartet pop, and you might get a big smile.

And mention that the Texas-based singer/songwriter/guitarist appears Saturday at the Jewish Mother with his hard-rockin’ group, the Sensitive Boys, for a very rare area appearance, and it’s a serious reason to rejoice.

For those not aware of the Mexican American musician’s talent, experience and rich history, suffice it to say he’s a sort of a musical “Zelig,” although hardly ordinary or unimportant.
He was named Musician of the Decade by No Depression magazine in 1998. Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, USA Today and Entertainment Weekly have all done loving profiles. He’s appeared on “Austin City Limits,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brian,” “Today,” “Tonight,” with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and at the Democratic National Convention.
Fans have decried their hero’s lack of popular recognition or mainstream success, but Escovedo sees it differently.

“I’m quite grateful and glad it’s gone this way,” he said during a phone interview. “I’m comfortable to have been able to experiment, to have had creative freedom and to have played music for a good reason.”

He hails from a musically rich family that includes percussionist brothers Pete and Coke, rocking sibling Javier and niece Sheila E.

In the late ’70s he helped found the San Francisco area punk band The Nuns, which opened for the Sex Pistols on the final performance of the British punk band’s disastrous, self-destructive 1978 American tour.

“I never rebelled against my parents’ music,” Escovedo, 59, said about his ethnic heritage, which he celebrated in his words-and-music stage piece “By the Hand of the Father.” “At the time it was against the music establishment. Punk has always been part of my musical makeup; it’s a good way to get out your pent-up aggression and energy, and sometimes it’s a good contact sport.”
He helped to start the alt-country movement by forming the cow-punk band Rank & File in New York. He moved on to a more hard-rocking band, True Believers, and a punk-oriented outfit, Buick MacKane.

But during a 2003 performance of “By the Hand of the Father” he collapsed onstage and hovered near death due to hepatitis C.

He was in ill health for several years, resulting in crippling debt.
Then a veritable who’s who in music – including his niece and brothers, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, John Cale, Son Volt, the Jayhawks, Ian Hunter and Jennifer Warnes – rallied around him, producing two tribute albums of his songs (”Por Vida” and the Canadian “Escovedo 101″) and a series of benefit concerts.

“That was very, very flattering, and humbling. I was almost embarrassed. I didn’t feel worthy,” he admitted. “But it was such a beautiful, beautiful gesture. The entire experience gave me a new perspective, and appreciation, of life. It’s given me… a wake-up call telling me how precious it all is and how lucky I am.”

Escovedo said now he’s hale, hearty and in the best creative and physical shape of his life. That will be evident Saturday at the Jewish Mother, he said.
“I’m having more fun now then I’ve ever had. We’ll do a lot of new material, older songs, everything from ballads to Stooges covers. There will be good guitars, good songs, good rock ‘n’ roll, a good time.”

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