Jonathan Demme to film Alejandro Escovedo

Back Porch Records announced that Alejandro Escovedo will be the subject of an upcoming documentary by Jonathan Demme. While Demme’s probably best known for his blockbuster successes during the '90s with the Oscar winning Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, some of his best films are performance-related, including last year’s Neil Young: Heart of Gold and Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia. Most prominent of these is Stop Making Sense, the revolutionary shoot of a Talking Heads performance filmed in 1983 that changed the landscape of concert filming and brought international fame to the Big Suit. If that doesn't sound interesting in writing, then you just don't know what I'm talking about—go out and rent the film today, as words really fail to capture the Big Suit's essence.

Escovedo’s performance will be at Las Manitas Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas, which is scheduled for demolition soon afterwards. The movie will show Escovedo playing his full range of music, from garage-rock from some of his early days to an appearance by his string quintet.

For now, though, Escovedo has his eyes on future recordings and is returning to the Sunset Sound studio in LA for an album planned to be released in spring 2008. Until then, you can see Escovedo during his current tour supporting the 2006 release, The Boxing Mirror.

Dates:

August
16 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Mint
17 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Great American Music Hall
18 - Santa Barbara, Calif. @ Lobero Theatre
24 - Birmingham, Ala. @ Stokin the Fire
26 - Salt Lake City, Utah @ Red Butte Garden Amp.

September
7 - Louisville, Ken. @ Headliners Music Hall
8 - Bowling Green, Ohio @ Black Swamp Arts Festival
28 - Lexington, Ken. @ Christ the King Octoberfest
29 - Chicago, Ill. @ The Abbey Pub

Related links:
Paste on Alejandro Escovedo's support concert
AlejandroEscovedo.com
Jonathan Demme on IMDB

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