Alejandro Escovedo
The low points—they’re more personal.
The illness, obviously, was something that
I shared with a lot of people and it definitely affected the way I approached music
and how I approach it now. It was a pretty
intense kind of alarm clock. I learned a lot.
You’ve probably heard this, and it sounds
pretty corny, but it was a blessing, it
taught me a lot.
You weren’t able to play for, what, three
years? How do you come out of that?
It was more like two years, but that’s still a
long time—especially when you consider that
I had played guitar every day for 30 years or
something like that, you know. And then suddenly, I had no interest in it. I was taken by the
illness. A lot of the time I was just incapable of
having the strength to play.
It was a weird time, man. And then coming
back was scary because, when I started, I
made cassettes that I don’t want to listen to
anymore because I don’t really want to go
there again. But for me, first trying to sing
again and then play again, it was pretty cryptic. But you know, that was then and I’m fine
now, man. So, it’s all good now.
What’s next for you?
We’re doing a lot of touring. There’s also kind
of a documentary that’s being filmed—maybe
you saw the crews in Austin. I started to write
new songs and am thinking about doing a
website-only record with the 16-piece orchestra that plays with me sometimes. I’m also
going to produce Amy Cook’s record.
Any tips or nuggets of wisdom for Premier
Guitar readers?
Maybe this will be helpful—get the bulk
of your tone through your amp. In a naked
sense, that’s where it’s at. If you’re just buying boxes, you’re not really there. You can’t
buy guitar tone. I believe that it’s between
you, the guitar, and the amp, and once you
get that together, then you can add other
things and embellish. Gear in itself is not an
answer to anything.
Alejandro’s
Gearbox
Acoustic Guitars
Collings CJ SB
Gibson Southern Jumbo
Electric Guitars
Gibson ES-339
Gibson SGJ Gordie Johnson
Signature Model
Gibson SG JR
Amps:
Reverend Hellhound 40/60
Reverend Kingsnake 20/60
Effects
Boss TU- 2
Durham Electronics Zia Drive
Boss RV- 5 Digital Reverb
Durham Electronics Sex Drive
Demeter Tube Direct Box
DOD 270 A/B
Strings
DR Strings Phosphor Bronze for acoustic
DR Strings Pure Blues for electric
