Alejandro Escovedo: Rock bottom, then rebirth
The song, written in collaboration with former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, anchors Escovedo’s latest album, “Burn Something Beautiful” (Fantasy), co-produced by Buck and mutual friend Scott McCaughey, longtime R.E.M. sideman and leader of the Minus 5 and Young Fresh Fellows.
Why did I get it? I started placing the blame on music, which had led to that lifestyle.
“Burn Something Beautiful” is the latest landmark in a career that took shape in San Francisco in the late ’70s, when Escovedo was leading one of the city’s first punk bands, the Nuns, who opened the Sex Pistols final show in 1978.
A solo career blossomed in the ’90s, and he’s been steadily releasing albums ever since that encompass his wide-ranging musical interests, from punk and garage rock to folk and experimental music.
“We spent 12 hours just trying to survive,” Escovedo says of the Category 4 hurricane.
“I took my wife’s hand, pulled her to me and told her, ‘I don’t think I can do this, I don’t think I can play in front of so many people,’” he says.
Escovedo was eventually diagnosed with and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Reinvigorated, Escovedo got back in touch with Buck and McCaughey to finish the songs they had been working on and to record the album that would become “Burn Something Beautiful.”
The album’s a room wrecker, with guitars cranked and amplifiers strained, while still honoring Escovedo’s more introspective l impulses.
“I was worried because I wasn’t sure where Al was (in terms of his health and mental outlook), but he was radiant,” Buck says.
[...] music was the salvation.