R.I.P. Singer/songwriter and guitarist Jon Dee Graham, 1959-2026

Sadly beloved Austin singer/songwriter and guitar ace Jon Dee Graham has passed away far too soon at 67. He'll be greatly missed. 

Alejandro Escovedo postpones Longboat Hall show on March 7

Alejandro Escovedo had to postpone his Toronto show on Saturday due to the flu. For info about a rescheduled date go here.

Rosie Flores celebrates her 75th at Austin's Continental Club, August 30

Rosie Flores is turning 75 in style with a stacked triple bill featuring Bill Kirchen and Alejandro Escovedo at the Continenal Club on August 30!   

Writes Rosie Flores....

"I can’t really be turning 75, it doesn’t feel like I’m even 27! But this might be the last time I count the years, the numbers are just numbers when you feel 18 on stage playing with your favourite musicians, the Talismen, and as a matter of fact we will also be celebrating our first single release this night “Lines” off of our upcoming LP, Impossible Frontiers! The players: Chris Sensat, Mike Molnar, and Josh Williams rock this night when the magic happens and the notes start flyin’ around the room! 

"So thrilled to see those who’ve made themselves available to fight for their right to party with me this evening! There’s Tele king Bill Kirchen kicking at 7:am, come early, stay late! Followed by my hero and rock 'n' roll soul brother Alejandro Escovedo!  Then me and the Talismen play our favourite tunes and then bring up a few of my talented girlfriends who have influenced me so, and celebrated the accolades through the years! 

"Fausto Faucito may make an appearance backing Jungle Rocker Jason! Who knows who else may show up!!  Love to Steve at the Continental Club for having me play his room since 1985 and keeping me going strong! Oh and Wayne Nagel, thanks for being there too! This is gonna be an epic evening…let’s all party!!"

Watch an interview with Rosie followed by a few performance clips. 

Rosie Flores will the opening act for Robert Plant's Saving Grace on their "Roar In The Fall" tour across North America which has a Toronto stop at Massey Hall on November 10th. Doors at 6:30 pm, show at 7:30 pm. Get tickets here. See the poster below for a full list of upcoming dates!

Chuck Prophet & His Cumbia Shoes @ Longboat Hall, Feb 4

Singer/songwriter Chuck Prophet and crew will be cookin' cumbia-style in Toronto at Longboat Hall on Tuesday. Get tickets here.

Alejandro Escovedo returns to The Horseshoe, Wednesday

Alejandro Escovedo and crew recently played a few songs from his new Echo Dancing album at KUTX-FM. Check it out here.

Alejandro Escovedo's new album Echo Dancing is available right here. Get tickets for his Horseshoe show over there. 

Alejandro Escovedo previews new Echo Dancing album with "Bury Me"

Alejandro Escovedo's forthcoming album Echo Dancing is due out March 29th via Yep Roc. Check out "Bury Me" below. 

Here's the scoop from Alejandro...

I am thrilled to announce that my new album, Echo Dancing, will be released on March 29 via Yep Roc Records. The first single "Bury Me" is out now— a song I first wrote in the early '90s, fittingly released today on my 73rd birthday. 

You can pre-order the album and stream "Bury Me" here: https://yeproc.ffm.to/echodancing

My original idea was to record an album of new material. But then I changed my mind and thought that revisiting songs from my various albums would be more interesting. I always feel that a well-written song can withstand a lot of abuse. Turning a past song inside out leads to the discovery of new ideas you might not have understood. The songs never seem to be complete. They are always evolving.

The greatest gift is getting to share my music with you all— I hope you enjoy the song and can't wait for you to hear the full record.

Check out the new recording of "Bury Me" followed by a live performance of the song from 2015.

Happy Birthday Chris Stamey!

Celebrating Chris Stamey's birthday with a video for "She Might Look My Way" off his latest album The Great Escape.

Get a copy of Chris Stamey's The Great Escape right here. Catch him on stage with the Lemon Twigs in Pomona (Dec 15) and L.A. (Dec 16). 

Chris Stamey updates Alex Chilton's "She Might Look My Way" for The Great Escape

Chris Stamey's 60s teen show style video for "She Might Look My Way" features a brief cameo by Alejandro Escovdeo. 

Happy Birthday Alejandro Escovedo!

Celebrating Alejandro's birthday with his stellar versions of "Put You Down" & "Sally Was A Cop" at ACL's Hall Of Fame show.

Rank and File are featured in Country Hall Of Fame's 'Western Edge' exhibit

Alejandro Escovedo stopped by the Rank and File exhibit at the Country Music Hall Of Fame. Watch 'em with Alan Thicke in '83.

Watch Alejandro Escovedo perform "Always A Friend"

Here's Alejandro singing "Always A Friend" during his show at Fitzgerald's American Music Fest in Berwyn, IL on July 3. 

Here's Alejandro Escovedo solo in Austin, 1994

The resolution ain't that great but here are two important performance clips of Alejandro Escovedo solo in Austin back in 1994. 

Alejandro Escovedo & friends @ Austin's Continental Club, Sunday

Alejandro Escovedo has his annual Continental party starting at 2 pm. $20 at the door. Proceeds go to Prevent Cancer Foundation

That time MTV's "Cutting Edge" came to Austin in 1985

Along with a load of great food, Cutting Edge host Peter Zaremba encountered Daniel Johnston in Austin. Watch it here.

Alejandro Escovedo was also captured with the True Believers who backed Roky Erickson below.

Alejandro Escovedo recalls his Austin City Limits appearances

Austin City Limits Hall Of Fame inductee Alejandro Escovedo first appeared on the show as a member of Rank and File in 1983. 

Alejandro Escovedo inducted into Austin City Limits Hall of Fame on Thursday

Congrats to Alejandro on the ACL honour, it's just surprising that the Austin icon wasn't in already. 

Here's the scoop on the event from Austin City Limits...

Austin City Limits is proud to announce the newest class of Austin City Limits Hall of Fame inductees, recognizing a pioneering trio of music’s great live acts: Alejandro Escovedo, Lucinda Williams and Wilco. Music greats Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Doe, Sheila E., Lenny Kaye, Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner, Rosanne Cash, Bill Callahan, Terry Allen and Del Castillo’s Alex Ruiz will take part in saluting the newest class of inductees with one-of-a-kind music performances and tributes.

The 2021 Austin City Limits Hall of Fame inductees will be saluted at a star-studded ceremony to be held October 28th, 2021 at ACL's studio home, ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Musical highlights and inductions from the ceremony will air as a special on PBS stations across the country in January 2022.

Alejandro Escovedo

Called a “rock and punk godfather” by Rolling Stone, Alejandro Escovedo first debuted on Austin City Limits in 1983 with his seminal band Rank and File, and has made five indelible appearances. The San Antonio-born, California-raised trailblazer has been a punk of the rebel kind in early band The Nuns, a cowpunk of the non-Western variety in Rank and File, commander of a guitar army in The True Believers, an orchestral conductor in his solo work, and a sensitive boy who has outrun death, demons, lust, and lost love in his songs. Crossing borders, jumping barriers, taking risks, betting it all: that’s the path Alejandro Escovedo has taken in his lifelong search for the heart of rock ‘n’ roll. No Depression magazine declared him the Artist of the Decade at the onset of the millennium. His 12th studio album, 2018’s The Crossing, is a testament to his enduring power as a uniquely talented artist and collaborator. Escovedo has appeared on ACL five times - in 1983 (as part of Rank and File), 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2017.

Lucinda Williams

Louisiana-born Lucinda Williams has traveled a long road since her 1979 debut, Ramblin’ on My Mind, followed by Happy Woman Blues, her first album of originals released over forty years ago in 1980. (She says that she’s still “the same girl” except that now “I have a bigger fan base and I can afford to stay at better hotels.”) Over the course of fourteen remarkable albums, three Grammy awards, and countless accolades, including Time’s Songwriter of the Year of 2001, Williams is one of music’s most revered artists, beloved for her singular vocals and extraordinary songs. In 2018, she celebrated the 20th Anniversary of her watershed Americana album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road with a sold-out milestone tour. The pioneering artist returned to the gritty blues foundation that first inspired her as a young singer-songwriter in the late 1970s, releasing a career highlight, 2020’s Good Souls Better Angels, to critical raves and a pair of Grammy nominations, hailed “one of the most searing, potent and passionate albums you’ll hear” by American Songwriter. Williams has appeared on Austin City Limits four times, in 1990, 1992 (as part of a songwriters special), 1999 and 2008.

Wilco

In their over two-plus decades as a band, Wilco has won multiple Grammy Awards, released 11 studio albums, as well as a trio of acclaimed albums with Billy Bragg penning music to lyrics by Woody Guthrie. Led, as always by singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy, the influential Chicago band have founded their own record label (dBpm Records) and festival (Solid Sound). Wilco continue to be regarded as a live powerhouse, as described by NPR, “To see Wilco on stage is to hear the best of the best.” Rolling Stone hails their most recent album, Ode to Joy, “Their best in years, a beautiful exercise in downhearted uplift,” while New York Magazine raved “[Ode to Joy] is Wilco’s best album in over a decade, and solid proof there’s room for bands to grow even when they’re already ten albums in.” Wilco has appeared on the ACL stage four times, in 2000, 2005, 2007 and 2012.

Austin City Limits 2021 Hall of Fame Induction & Celebration

Thursday, October 28, 2021

ACL Live at The Moody Theater

310 W Willie Nelson Blvd, Austin, TX 78701

6:00 pm gates and will call open

6:45 pm doors open

7:30 pm showtime

VIP Party Begins at 6:00 pm

Get tickets right here. Watch Alejandro Escovedo perform "Johnny Volume" with Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Kurt Bloch which wasn't originally televised as part of the ACL broadcast. 

 

Watch Alejandro Escovedo on Overheard with Evan Smith

Alejandro Escovedo opens up about his family life, hanging out with Sid & Nancy in NYC and surfing in Cali right here. 

One For The Weekend: True Believers

Here's Alejandro Escovedo and his True Believers rockin' up a storm with "Hard Road" at Austin's KUTX in 2013. 

Alejandro Escovedo's La Cruzada album gets wider release

La Cruzada, the Spanish-language version of Alejandro Escovedo's acclaimed album The Crossing, is out Aug 27 via Yep Roc.  

Sez Alejandro...

“I began developing this story about a southern Italian boy named Salvo and a young boy named Diego from Saltillo, Mexico, who meet in Galveston, Texas while working in an Italian restaurant,” says Escovedo. “They set out on a journey in search of the America created by beat poets, rock ‘n’ roll savants, new wave films, and the underground garage. The America they discover is a very divided and unwelcoming land filled with racism and unrest. La Cruzada is the realization of a dream that I’ve always had to record an album in Spanish in honor of my father’s heritage, and it has finally come to life.”

Pre-order La Cruzada from Yep Roc Records right here. Check out "Algo Azul" followed by a list of upcoming fall tour dates. 

That time the True Believers jammed with Roky Erickson

Here's Alejandro Escovedo and crew backing Roky Erickson on a few haunted classics at the Opry House in Austin back in 1986.