Alejandro Escovedo

By the time he released his first solo album — 1992's Gravity — Texas-based underground hero Alejandro Escovedo had cut his teeth on left-coast punk and had broken fresh ground in alternative country . . . an ideal bedrock for his unique, often mournful, always beguiling solo work. Get to know him through the first-person death row narrative of "Paradise", and the lean cello/guitar arrangement of "Broken Bottle". Escovedo joins forces with a legend of avant-garde rock, in Next Steps.

Experience and eclectic taste are qualities Escovedo shares with the man who produced 2006's masterpiece The Boxing Mirror, Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale. Their collaboration pays dividends in buckets. It's also highly rewarding to hear Escovedo in front of an audience: among the live tracks included here is a red-hot, screamin'-fiddle cover of the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog": a nod to his formative days in the San Francisco punk band the Nuns and his tenure with pioneering cow-punk outfit Rank and File.

Alejandro Escovedo's blood relatives include brother Pete, once a percussionist with Santana, and pop vixen niece Sheila E, whose star rose with Prince — so all the genetic markers were in place for a long career in music. Fortunately for us, he was never cut out to be a journeyman. Escovedo always made a habit of pushing stylistic limits until he settled on the narrative-driven roots rock and Western gothic balladry that has secured his considerable cult status. When hepatitis-C almost killed him in 2003, the benefits to raise money for his treatment brought out a slew of big-name admirers who attested to the strength of his influence.