Alejandro Escovedo

Alejandro Escovedo

Alejandro Escovedo is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. Born in 1951, he begins his music career in the mid-1970s with the San Francisco-based punk band the Nuns.

Early bands and Austin years

In 1979, he co-founds Rank and File, an early cowpunk band. The group moves from New York City to Austin, Texas, in 1981 and releases Sundown on Slash Records in 1982. Escovedo then leaves to form the True Believers with his brother Javier. The band records two albums for EMI and tours widely, often opening for Los Lobos, but EMI does not release the second album at the time. That recording later appears as a bonus item on a 1994 Rykodisc CD reissue of the first album.

Solo work and later projects

Escovedo releases his first solo album, Gravity, on Watermelon Records in 1992. The album is produced by Stephen Bruton of Bonnie Raitt’s band and brings together a range of his musical styles. He also plays periodically with Buick MacKane, a group that blends old-school punk and 1970s glam rock, and after Rykodisc releases With These Hands in 1996, the band follows with its long-awaited album. After leaving Rykodisc, he signs to Bloodshot in 1998, which releases the live album More Miles Than Money: Live 1994-1996 and the studio album A Man Under The Influence.

Family and collaborations

Escovedo’s family includes former Santana percussionist Pete Escovedo and Pete’s daughter Sheila E, who is also known for playing drums with Prince and later for her pop career. He later releases Street Songs of Love in 2010. In 2003, after collapsing following a show in Phoenix and being diagnosed with Hepatitis C, he receives support from other musicians through benefit concerts, and a tribute album, Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo, appears in 2004.