Alejandro Escovedo vs George W. Bush

The very first band I ever "signed" was San Francisco's premiere punk rock band, The Nuns. My partner Chris and I started an indie "label" to release a 3-song EP by the band. None of us were all that serious about the project; it was just something we all did for fun... just for fun. The guitar player of that band was Alejandro Escovedo who went on to a stellar solo career based in Austin. Yesterday Alejandro was in the news for a song, "Castanets," he had stopped playing for a long time but started playing again last month. The video is below but let me explain why this is newsworthy.

Alejandro was always the most likeable guy in the band and, although I haven't seen him for years, I'd bet he still is. I know Bruce Springsteen likes him and I know Steve Earle likes him. Unfortunately, from Alejandro's point of view, so does a cloddish fellow Texan, George Bush. In 2005 the NY Times reported that "Castanets" is a Bush fave and is on the presidential iPod. Alejandro stopped playing the song immediately.

Now that Bush is quacking along in his lamest of lame duckiness and getting ready to abandon the White House he stole in 2000, Alejandro has started playing the song again. He's out on tour behind his brand new album, Real Animal and if you listen to the song you'll hear him explain his feelings about Bush and his song.