Alejandro Escovedo

I died a little today/ I put up a fight,” Alejandro Escovedo sang on 2006’s The Boxing Mirror, bluntly detailing his bout with hepatitis C. The disease almost killed the veteran Texan songwriter, but it also provided the muse for his best album yet. Backed by moaning cellos and violent violin stabs (the stamp of producer John Cale), Escovedo delivered a muscular set of scorching roots rockers, sincere pop confessions and haunting, noir ballads with the vigor of a man half his age and with twice the immune system. Escovedo’s latest, 2008’s Real Animal, is marked by a similar moxie. Fiddlin’ opener Carrie Rodriguez received a emphatic endorsement in the New York Times from roots hero Lucinda Williams, though her twang-laden, chicken-fried songs are more overtly country than Williams’ work.