Peter Michael Escovedo will be attending the All Stars show at Vino Godfather on May 18th with his father Pete Escovedo, an original member of Santana. (Courtesy photo, Peter Michael Escovedo)
Despite two Emmy nominations and numerous credits, producer and music director Peter Michael Escobedo tries to stay grounded. He credits his Christian faith and family for instilling that attitude.
So it's no wonder Peter Michael Escobedo's upcoming All Stars show is a return home, a return to his roots. Joined on stage by his father Pete Escobedo, who recently announced his retirement tour, Escobedo is relishing the opportunity to perform alongside the legendary percussionist.
“Every time we play, I look at him differently and say, 'Is this our last show?'” Escobedo said.
The All Stars show at the Vino Godfather is more important than the show to Escobedo in many ways. Returning to Vallejo, Escobedo returns to where he first met his wife and where her own father worked on Mare Island.
Escobedo, who currently lives in Los Angeles on film work, sees the trip to the Bay Area as an opportunity to reunite the band.
“Every show has a different vibe at this point. When you're a teenager or younger, you don't think about that at all,” Escobedo said, recalling his early attitude toward family shows. When she was 14 and playing with her brothers, Escobedo remembers thinking that gigs were fun, but she tried it and it was over.
But music was more important in his life than just gigs.
It was not unusual for the family living room to have all the furniture pushed against the walls to accommodate the father's 16-piece band. But even with a band at the heart of his home, Escobedo never envisioned himself making a living as a musician or artist.
“It was little by little,” Escobedo said. Live shows gradually followed, and Escobedo went on his first tour with Vallejo band Con Funk Shun, soon followed by Marving Gaye and then Lionel Richie.
“Now that we're all adults and have our own careers, it's always special for all of us when we get together,” Escobedo said. “We look at this whole season as something very special because we know it won't last forever.”
Having separate careers has been a secret for the Escobedo family, allowing them to grow stronger together. There was no threat of breakup as they had already carved out their own path.
“When we came back, we were all in town at the same time and immediately jumped into playing salsa and Latin jazz with my dad's band,” Escobedo said. “It was really fun to finish Lionel Richie’s tour and then play with his dad’s band two days later.”
“When we were together, we were together, and when we weren't together, we were working elsewhere,” Escobedo said.
The musical arrangements reflect this dynamic, incorporating the Escobedo family's signature flair that sets them apart from commercial sounds. Every song on the All Stars show is a song that Escobedo performed, recorded, produced, or worked on in some way.
“We might do 'My Cherie Amour,' which we do as Cha-Cha. We were able to arrange these songs a little more into the style we wanted to do,” Escovedo said, adding that Stevie Wonder has always been his favorite. He added that he is an artist.
“And I'm going to do something that people wouldn't expect me to do. I'll probably do 'Dreams' by Stevie Nicks,” Escobedo said. “The last time I went to Vino, I played that song and everyone was singing along.”
But as much as he loves getting on stage and performing, Escobedo prefers the process over the performance, saying, “I enjoy the process and being behind the scenes just as much as being on stage, if not more.” Ta.
He recalls another hobby they shared when his father painted watercolors. That early artistic endeavor later turned into his love of film. “Looking through the camera was like looking at a blank canvas,” Escobedo said.
Because Escobedo deeply understands the storytelling aspect, he is not pressured to create a work of art. That's part of the reason there's a 20-year difference between his two records.
“Up until that point, I felt like I had nothing to say,” Escobedo explained. “This is the second record I made during the pandemic. I wasn't writing songs for myself, I was just writing them.”
In the world of film, Escobedo has many stories left to tell, some of which have yet to be revealed. One thing he can talk about is a movie he wrote about the Tenderloin that he's going to direct in San Francisco. Then there's David Mickey Evans, whom Escobedo calls “Mr. Evans.” Escobedo is already set to direct a family film similar to “The Sandlot,'' which he is currently producing.
“These things come naturally and it's great because you can do what you want and say what you want when you want to say it,” Escobedo said.
If you go:
- what: Peter Michael Escobedo All Stars Show featuring Pete Escobedo
- when: May 18th 2pm
- where: Vino Godfather, 1005 Walnut Ave., Vallejo.
- ticket: $45 online, $50 in-store. Online: ftpresents.com/events/peter-michael-escovedo-allstars/