Report: Escovedo Live NC; Talks New LP

Part Boss, Part Stooge: the Austin songwriter previews new material and hints at more "guitar-driven" sound Jan. 15. He also tells BLURT about the album he's about to record.

By Jason Bugg

            On Friday, January 15^th at Asheville NC's The Orange Peel Texas rocker Alejandro Escovedo took the stage to the mournful sounds of George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and proceeded to shake the room, the crowd, and even himself out of the cold gray abscess of this already harsh and short winter- all while looking like a million bucks.

            The singer, decked out in a blue faux snakeskin suit and black and white polka dot ascot, effortlessly plowed through songs from his last album (2008's excellent Real Animal), a few covers (including a spot-on rendition of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes") and even managed to keep the audience interested while showcasing material for Real Animal's soon-to-be-recorded follow-up. (The current leg of his tour wraps Jan. 23 in Louisville, at which point he and his band will head over to Lexington's Saint Claire studios, the same facility where Real Animal was recorded.)

            Of the four new songs previewed, the most rollicking of which made its live debut at the show; the song, a spot-on concoction that smashes together Darkness on the Edge of Town-era Springsteen and Tim-era Westerberg entitled "The Anchor" handily showcased Escovedo's mastery of the rock and roll song: three minutes, three choruses, a blazing guitar solo courtesy of guitarist David Pulkingham and a rousing ending. The formula may sound banal, but the result is a song that garnered fist pumping and even a few audience members shouting the chorus ("I'm in love with love and it broke me in two") back at the singer by the end of the song.

            "I wrote that song while in Mexico surfing," said Escovedo in a quick chat after the show, "This entire new album is all about love, death and surfing."

            But the new tunes didn't stop there. The singer also showcased "Down in the Bowery", a tender song that Escovedo wrote for his son.  If that description alone makes you worry about the singer drifting into schmaltzy Rod Stewart territory, fear not - the song's country feel and lyrics about finding one's own way owes more to Gram Parsons and Keith Richards than it ever could to AOR tripe.

            "I asked my son what he thought about my music and he told me it was ‘old man's music', so I wrote this song about how I want him to find his path in life," said Escovedo with a laugh.

            If there was only a casual hint of the Stones in "Down in the Bowery", then "This Bed is Getting Crowded" was a full blown hero worship for the Mick Taylor era of the Stones. Set atop a garage-y and repetitive guitar riff and leading to a very Iggy Pop-feeling climax, the song encapsulates a rather ominous feeling that came over Escovedo during the writing process that he describes as when "romance is futile and death is impending".  If that feeling creates as joyous a noise as on "This Bed is Getting Crowded", then more people need to latch onto it- the song cooks.

            The final new song played that night was a slow burning and very Velvet Underground sounding "After the Meteor Shower", a slow and simple song punctuated by a vibrato-laden guitar that Escovedo describes as "my attempt to write a ‘Pale Blue Eyes'-type of song".

            The songs managed to fit right into Escovedo and company's show and not feel out of place. The singer is also taking the time on this tour to showcase his smaller backing band, consisting of Pulkingham, bassist Bobby Daniel and drummer Hector Muñoz.  Gone are the strings of past tours and in its place a muscular, guitar-centric band.

            "I wanted to play guitar-driven rock this time out," said Escovedo. "It was hard to convince people that that's what I do, so hopefully this record will show that."

            If the live material is any indicator, there will be no doubt about that when the new album is finally released.  Escovedo is showing his inner Boss, but hinting at his inner Stooge.

[Photo Credit: Jason Bugg]