Some men handle a midlife crisis by buying a sports car or having an affair. Singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo, however, handled it the only way he knew how -- he wrote an album.

"I couldn't afford the sports car," the 51-year-old Texas musician cracks over a cell phone from his tour bus. "No, I'm just kidding. But I did go through some pretty difficult times in the past couple of years, including the breakup of my marriage and a few other things. It was like a tidal wave of stuff.

"But now I'm sort of glad it happened that way, because of what I was able to learn and create from it. What I got out of the experience is much better than a sports car."

What he got was his latest album By the Hand of the Father, a moving personal work about family, honour and tradition inspired by the life of his father, a Mexican musician who left his homeland in search of the American dream.

"The first five songs I ever wrote in my life were about my dad -- about his life or about things he had told me," says Escovedo. "My father was a great storyteller. So I decided to write a cycle of songs based on my father's life growing up in the mountains of Mexico and coming to America."

Ultimately, the story became bigger than one man. Several Latino writers and musicians -- including Escovedo's percussionist brother Pete and members of Los Lobos -- collaborated on the project, which evolved into a theatrical production that was staged in L.A. to rave reviews.

But Escovedo, who will play some of By the Hand's material tonight with his five-piece backing band, says the praise that meant the most came from his 96-year-old father.

"He loves it," Escovedo says. "After it was finished, I drove out to California and played it for him. He listened to it over and over. He was really proud."

So is Escovedo.

"Creating, all you want to do is give something back. I got to do that -- and I got to learn so much about my relationship with my father, and with my kids," says the father of seven. "I hope it inspires them to want to know more about those times and my life, too."

The next chapter in that life, however, will likely be a louder one.

"I think I'm going to make a rock 'n' roll record next. Sort of an early Elvis Costello record -- some good songs that rock and have something to say."

Maybe he isn't over that midlife crisis just yet.