Alejandro Escovedo “Faith”

It’s not wrong to assert that it’s who you know.

Who you know doesn’t give you talent. And it doesn’t give you drive. And it doesn’t give you commitment. But if you are firing on all artistic cylinders, having some connections can help propel your work into space, and/or put you in orbit with some interesting stars.

So if you’re a musician about to sign with a manager, it doesn’t hurt to look at their roster of other clients.

Brett Dennen got to work with African guitar idol Femi Kuti on “Make You Crazy,” because the artists share a manager.

Ryan Montbleau’s manager let him know that another client of his, New Orleans hero Trombone Shorty, was looking to collaborate with a sure-footed songwriter. A couple of Montbleau-penned tracks are on Shorty’s new record.

And even if the client list is short, sometimes it’s still pretty helpful.

Jon Landau is know for his one big, Big, BIG client: Bruce Springsteen.

So when Landau took on established-but-underappreciated artist Alejandro Escovedo as a client, well, it was only natural that Bruce give a little lift off to the gifted songwriter.

After inviting Escovedo to perform a song with the E Street Band during a Texas concert, which was release on a live EP, Bruce joined Alejandro in the studio to play the unusual (but increasingly less unusual as he ages) role of backing player, singing harmony on this track called “Faith.”

It’s good to have friends. It’s even better to have friends who have friends who are rock stars.



Awesome Fan-shot video