geez, Junior, don't go gettin' all apologetic on me, ya wuss. for the
record, there are many Escovedo moments i find unconvincing too. much
less so in a live setting, and i think the live record is a lot more
listenable than his studio albums, but, yeah, a lot of the time
there's a sort of monotony there. ... my point was that i don't think
there's anything wrong with someone seeking support to do more
ambitious work. "seeking institutional validation" seems to me a
specious accusation considering the kind of music that Escovedo plays;
frankly I think he'd be playing his songs with much more straightahead
rock instrumentation and more self-consciously Hispanic signifiers if
he wanted that - he could easily work in the Los Lobos vein, but
instead he makes very individualistic choices in the way he works with
different configuraions, strings, etc.
the point that the monotony of some of his work might have been a plus
to the NEA's way of thinking seems pretty valid, though.
carl w.
