Alejandro Escovedo brought his Think About the Link Tour to Chicago, Illinois stopping at The City Winery on January, 26th.
Read about hepatitis C survivor Escovedo's awareness tour below
In partnership with Prevent Cancer Foundation®, Alejandro Escovedo's the Think About the Link® tour raises awareness of the Foundation’s educational campaign about the connection between certain viruses and cancer, (www.thinkaboutthelink.org) of which Escovedo is a spokesperson.
As a hepatitis C survivor, Escovedo hopes to spread the word about the link between hepatitis C and liver cancer. The tour kicked off on January 13, 2018 at his annual show at ACL Live at the Moody in Austin to stunning reviews. Each night, Escovedo and band perform his seminal "A Man Under the Influence" album in its entirety, with new arrangements by music director Chris Stamey (dB's) who produced the record for Bloodshot in 2001. Stamey and most of the original musicians featured on the album are on the tour - Mitch Easter (producer, R.E.M., frontman, Let's Active), Eric Heywood (The Pretenders), long-time drummer Hector Munoz; newcomer, Michael Luzecky, a string section and vocals. The second half of the show is devoted to inspired covers by celebrated music heroes we have lost to cancer and gems from Alejandro's rich catalog.
Escovedo, renowned songwriter, singer and true believer, joined the Novemer 2017 Yep Roc 20th anniversary celebration shows in North Carolina and he crossed paths again with Stamey for the first time in 17 years. It was here the concept to merge a new interpretation of A Man Under the Influence with the Think About the Link Tour for Prevent Cancer was born. Escovedo became a full fledged member of the Yep Roc family, signing with the label in December 2017, and will release a new album later in 2018.
In October 2016, Escovedo, released Burn Something Beautiful on Concord Music’s Fantasy Records. The album, Escovedo's first solo endeavor since 2012's highly acclaimed Big Station, was a highly collaborative affair where he teamed with long time friends Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Scott McCaughey (R.E.M.,The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows) to co-write the album's songs, and also enlisted the pair to act as the project's producers.
Escovedo and The Burn Something Beautiful Band, as they fondly refer to themselves, took some mighty big swings. At once a celebration of the rock and roll life, a contemplation on mortality, and the healing power of love, Burn Something Beautiful connects repeatedly with Escovedo's soulful heart and voice at its core. Recorded at Portland's Type Foundry studio, the project coalesced with the help of an esteemed group of musicians who give the album a genuine band feel. They include guitarist Kurt Bloch (The Fastbacks), drummer John Moen (The Decemberists), vocalists Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney) and Kelly Hogan (Neko Case, The Flat Fie) as well as saxophonist Steve Berlin (Los Lobos).
In a trailblazing career that began with The Nuns, San Francisco's famed punk innovators, to the Austin-based-based alt-country rock pioneers, Rank & File, to Texas bred darlings, True Believers, through countless all-star collaborations and tribute album appearances and finally a series of beloved solo albums beginning with 1992's acclaimed Gravity, Escovedo has earned a surplus of distinctions: No Depression magazine's Artist of the Decade Award in 1998 and the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for Performing in 2006, just to name two.
"You just do your good work, and people care," Alejandro says. "I always believed, when I was a kid, that if you worked hard, you would find fulfillment. I think I got a lot of that from my father and my brothers. A working musician is all I ever wanted to be. Hard work, stay true to what you want to do, and then eventually someone would notice for that very reason."
Reviews for A Man Under the Influence/Think About the Link Tour presented by Prevent Cancer Foundation
"The performances were lush and full...it was truly a treat to hear these songs with such a rich resonance that only added to their depth and beauty." Front Row Center
"Alejandro Escovedo likes songs with stories; tonight, he was, the American story." – The Boston Globe
“Alejandro Escovedo is one of the great songwriters of our time.” – Time Out Philadelphia
"Chris Stamey's new arrangements for A Man Under the Influence are stunning, a rare capture of this music, something that won't be repeated, and is centered with Think About The Link campaign for Prevent Cancer. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, and still, there was dancing! Because that's the Alejandro Escovedo way." KUTX Studio 1A with Jody Denberg
"Age is a relative term, and Escovedo seems in some respects younger than he was many years ago. Now free of hepatitis C after two decades with the disease thanks to a recently developed treatment, he is expressing his gratitude for his health partly by calling attention to those who have not been so fortunate...the music was its own unique journey." – Peter Blackstock, American-Statesman
Setlist::
1. Wave
2. Rosalie
3. Across The River
4. Castanets
5. Don't Need You
6. Follow You Down
7. Wedding Day
8. As I Fall
9. Velvet Guitar
10. About This Love
11. Sally Was A Cop
12. Luna de Miel
13. Tugboa
15. Killing Floor (Nicholas Tremulis sang)
16. Moonage Daydream
17. Horizontal
18, All The Young Dudes
19. Rock N' Roll