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No Depression has been the foremost journalistic authority on roots music for well over a decade, publishing 75 issues from 1995 to 2008. No Depression ceased publishing magazines in 2008 and took to the web. We have made the contents of those issues accessible online via this extensive archive and also feature a robust community website with blogs, photos, videos, music, news, discussion and more.

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Artist: Alejandro Escovedo

Record Review from web archive December 9, 2008

Alejandro Escovedo

Some consider Real Animal a creative pinnacle for Alejandro Escovedo, “a career album,” though by my count it’s at least his fourth career album. The first was 1992′s Gravity, produced by Stephen Bruton, which belatedly launched Escovedo’s career as a fully-formed solo artist. There was 2001′s A Man Under The Influence, produced by Chris Stamey, [...]

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Column from web archive November 5, 2008

Chicago, by way of Austin

If anyone knows the way from Austin to Chicago, it’s Alejandro Escovedo. The Texas veteran’s recent gig at Park West extended his amazing streak of playing more different venues in the Windy City than even most artists who live here have played. Since he first reached these shores with Rank And File in the early [...]

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Column from web archive October 24, 2008

Alejandro Escovedo’s every-night breakthrough

If you’re familiar with the pre-dot-com history of No Depression, you likely already know how far my own musical history goes back with Alejandro Escovedo. If not, this should give you some idea. It was ten years ago that Grant Alden and I declared him our Artist of the Decade for the 1990s; I wrote [...]

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Waxed - Record Review from Issue #75 May-June 2008

Alejandro Escovedo – Real Animal

I still remember the dreary January afternoon, ten years ago, when Grant showed me the mock-up of the cover of ND #14. It was the day before the magazine was due at the printer and I was helping with some last-minute proofreading. When I saw the words “Alejandro Escovedo: Artist of the decade” splayed to [...]

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The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #63 May-June 2006

Alejandro Escovedo – Hepatitis C nearly killed Alejandro Escovedo three years ago. Friends, fans, and his idols helped inspire his return to music

Alejandro Escovedo no longer takes anything for granted. Always a courtly gentleman with a soft-spoken manner, he begins the interview by asking, “How are you?” Fine, Al, great. Couldn’t be better. And you? How are you feeling? “I’m doin’ very well,” he replies, with a moment’s reflection. “Very well. I’m limping around a little bit. [...]

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Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #57 May-June 2005

Alejandro Escovedo / Jon Dee Graham – Fitzgerald’s (Berwyn, IL) / Mark Olson & Gary Louris – Maintenance Shop (Ames, IA)

Rarely do club shows seem to have as much at stake as a pair that braved the February freeze of the midwest. For Alejandro Escovedo, the highly-anticipated, sold-out performance at Chicago’s suburban FitzGerald’s marked a return to the road after a couple years of convalescence. Over the course of his recovery following his April 2003 [...]

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Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #55 Jan-Feb 2005

Alejandro Escovedo Benefit – Paramount Theatre (Austin, TX)

It was, in a way, appropriate that Por Vida: Benefit For Life, the all-star kickoff fundraiser for Alejandro Escovedo and the Alejandro Fund, occurred a couple of days after the Day of the Dead. Held on November 1 and 2, El Dia de los Muertos — a mixture of pre-Columbian and Christian observances — is [...]

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Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #51 May-June 2004

Alejandro Escovedo Tribute – Las Manitas (Austin, TX)

“You look good, Alejandro,” singer Nicholas Tremulis said to Alejandro Escovedo, who for a change was attending a South By Southwest concert in the back room of the Mexican cafe Las Manitas instead of hosting one. “Maybe a little too good,” Tremulis continued, joking. “I don’t know about all this illness business. I think you’ve [...]

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Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #51 May-June 2004

Alejandro Escovedo – Continental Club (Austin, TX)

“You don’t know how good it feels to be up here again,” Alejandro Escovedo said a few songs into his first live show in nearly a year. Maybe not, but we could guess. If it was anything like the feeling Escovedo gave off, then pretty damned great — yet also tinged with an underlying wistfulness [...]

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Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #48 Nov-Dec 2003

Benefit For Alejandro Escovedo – Slim’s (San Francisco, CA)

Like millions of Americans, Alejandro Escovedo, dogged seven years now by hepatitis C, has no medical insurance. Yet the master of moody roots chamber music has hundreds of musicians, from legends to locals, throwing benefits to defray his expenses (check www.alejandrofund.com for one that may be happening near you). San Francisco’s ran four hours, to [...]

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From the Blogs

  • Hearth Music Guide to Northwest Folklife Festival 2013
    We're back again with our annual guide to the hugely humongous Northwest Folklife Festival, this Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-27, 2013. This is the largest community music festival in the nation, with (last I checked) 800+ bands, 25+ stages, and so much music and dance that it's physically impossible to see even a small fraction of the things you […]
  • CD Reissue Review: Swamp Dogg - Gag a Maggott (Stone Dogg/Alive, 1973/2013)
    Funky soul from 1973, with two bonus tracks After his innovative 1970 debut, Total Destruction to Your Mind, Swamp Dogg (born Jerry Williams, Jr.) continued to cut fine soul albums, despite a lack of big label distribution, chart action or major sales. His deep… […]
  • Americana Music Association Honors and Award Nominations-A Rundown
    There is a subtle difference in the nominating categories for the Americana Honors & Award Nominations from the rest of the awards in the music industry. Most give a ranking, which usually begins with ‘best.’  No where in the nominations… […]
  • CD Review - Stacie Collins and the Al-Mighty Band "Shinin' LIVE!"
    SHININ’ LIVE is the DVD and the ass-kickin', hip-grinding and smile making soundtrack CD of the concert at Bootleggers Bar in Kendal, England is included as a free Extra. I can remember the night, as if it was yesterday, when I was standing in front of a packed crowd who had come from all over the UK to see this special gig in a Bar that appeared to hav […]
  • Interview: Kurt Marschke of Deadstring Brothers on "Cannery Row"
    In the spring of 2012, two years since his move to Nashville from Detroit, Kurt Marschke connected with another Motor City transplant, JD Mack (formerly of Whitey Morgan & the 78s). After searching for new musical blood to make a new record with, Kurt and JD partnered up with Brad Pemberton (Ryan Adams & The Cardinals), Mike Webb (Poco), Pete Finney […]
  • Wakarusa 2013: Just a Week Away!
    As you can imagine, I am getting very excited for Wakarusa. I would like to say thank you again to No Depression for making this adventure possible. I cannot wait to share my experiences with all of you. As the final countdown begins, I am hard at work researching and preparing so I can bring you the best coverage of the event. Through this process, I have s […]

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