Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys

Event information

There are songwriters who sing their songs, and then there are songs who sing their writers. Alejandro Escovedo is one with his muse and his music. Over a lifetime spent traversing the bridge between words and melody he has ranged over an emotional depth that embraces all forms of genre and presentation, a resolute voice that weathers the emotional terrain of our lives. Sometimes it takes the form of barely contained rage, the rock of punk amid kneeled feedback; sometimes it caresses and soothes, a whispery harmony riding the air of a nightclub room, removed from amplification, within the audience.

His rise has been gradual, a steady incline rather than a quick ascendance. It is a journey that has taken him from Texas to California to New York and back again to Texas. In the 1970s, he surfaced on San Francisco’s no-holds-barred punk scene, guitarist in the Nuns; Rank & File and helped unite the disparate worlds of punk and country in the 1980s; and after he moved back to Austin, the True Believers combined all manner of Americana music in a harbinger of what was to come in Alejandro’s solo career which begun in 1992 with the album Gravity.

Since then Alejandro has continued to make great album after great album which ultimately has paved the way to arguably his most creative, focused and honed period of his career with the release in 2008 of the glorious record, ‘Real Animal.’ This record also marked the start of a ‘kindred spirit’ writing collaboration period with Chuck Prophet which simply goes from strength to strength on 2010’s ‘Street Songs of Love’ and with a third collaboration in the pipeline for 2012, promises great excitement and anticipation for scaling even greater musical heights. See them live at the Bullingdon and witness first-hand the meaning of a real Rock and Roll Band.

“Bruce Springsteen opened his SXSW blitz a night early, making a surprise appearance on lead guitar and occasional vocals during Alejandro Escovedo‘s closing set at the 30th annual Austin Music Awards, at the Austin Music Hall 2012”.




“Amy Speace sounds uncannily like a 21st Century Joan Baez, her timbred voice full of genuine emotions…the record soars with salient vocals and poetic lyrics,” writes The Classic Rock Examiner in its review of Nashville singer-songwriter Amy Speace’s third album, Land Like A Bird (Thirty Tigers). After releasing two well-received albums on Judy Collins’ Wildflower Records, Bird is Speace’s first record since migrating south from her long-time home in the NYC area.

Amy Speace's path to songwriting may not have been a straight line, but like many journeys, has been better for the winding way. Born in Baltimore, Amy grew up the oldest of 4, moving homes and states every few years, learning early about comings and goings, and finding solace in music very early. After graduating from Amherst College, she moved to Manhattan to study acting, toured with The National Shakespeare Company for a few years until a bad breakup and a $50 pawnshop guitar sparked a late-blooming songwriting burst. An appearance at an open mic led to a regular gig at The Bitter End, which led to an independent release of her first songs and in 2005, a chance encounter with Judy Collins' manager changed her life.
Judy Collins signed Amy to her own Wildflower Records label in 2006, releasing Songs for Bright Street. The Killer In Me followed in 2009, with a rare duo appearance by Ian “Mott the Hoople” Hunter, who brought her to the UK for his Acoustic Tour. USA Today called her “a rising star”, NPR named the title track from Killer “Song of the Day” and wrote “her velvety, achy voice recalls an early Lucinda Williams.” In 2009, Amy shifted landscapes, moved south to Nashville, and beginning the writing of her latest album Land Like A Bird. Produced by Neilson Hubbard it features guest vocals by Kim Richey and is already receiving the best reviews of Amy's career. “Amy Speace is the perfect torchbearer for the unconscious cool of true Americana” (Houston Press). Amy will also be seen in the upcoming documentary “Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story”.

More from this event organiser

Adam Ross

Oxford

27 Sep

Holly Carter

Oxford

28 Nov

Adam Ross

Oxford

27 Sep

Holly Carter

Oxford

28 Nov