Alejandro Escovedo has learned to make the most of his time.

Even short periods, like the all-too-brief set he and his band were almost criminally allotted on a mere workshop stage during Edmonton's folk fest in 2005.

Despite what he says was "a long way to go for about 25 minutes of play," their performance has been celebrated as a festival highlight.

The Sun called it a "smokin' hot band, passionate frontman, razor-sharp political commentary and a welcome dose of all-out rock 'n' roll tinged with every type of music from mariachi to punk" and "the most spectacular concert of the weekend - period."

If you missed him before, the hype hits the Myer Horowitz Theatre on the University of Alberta campus tonight. Tickets ($28.50) are available through Ticketmaster.

Over the phone from his home in Wimberly, Texas, the 55-year-old singer/songwriter says he was consoled by still being able to enjoy what "might be my favourite festival anywhere" with his wife and daughter.

And, for the record, he adds, yes, the band is "that" good.

Escovedo isn't so much vain as he is gratified - or just plain relieved. Since recovering from a near-fatal battle with hepatitis C a few years ago, he's become all the more appreciative of time spent with his wife, seven kids (ranging in age, he's pretty sure, from four to 35), three grandchildren and a huge extended family - by way of 11 brothers and sisters.

As such, family-related events like Christmas have become all the more poignant for him. So too has his passion for play.

"Having done this for so long - every single day was about music - then suddenly it was just taken away from me. And it seemed like it might be taken away from me for good. It was devastating. It just feels like my life was given back to me."

How he contracted hepatitis remains a mystery, however.

"That's a question that can't be answered really. There's a number of ways it could have happened - could have been intravenous drugs, could have been a tattoo. The wave of hep C cases that you see now, or have seen since the mid-'90s, have been people who probably contracted it during the '70s. And that was a pretty hedonistic time, I guess."

In a way, it's been Escovedo's longevity, at least from a musical perspective, that's lent towards his recovery.

Lacking medical insurance, support came via the many talented players he's had the pleasure of working with over the years. Or maybe it's the other way around, if Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo is any indication.

The two-disc set features covers of 31 of his tunes by the likes of Cowboy Junkies, Calexico, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, John Cale, Charlie Musselwhite and Escovedo's niece, Sheila E (of Prince and Sheila E fame).

Proceeds from the album went towards paying his bills and establishing the Alejandro Fund, which assists other American musicians who don't have medical insurance.

That outpouring of support and generosity certainly sounds like a facet of the American Dream, the promise of a better future, that saw people like his late father emigrate from Mexico to the U.S.

Journeys like his father's and other Mexican-American men are chronicled and paid homage to in By the Hand of the Father, a touring musical Escovedo co-wrote with a theatre company based out of L.A. It premiered in 2000.

"My father is a great example of a very hard-working man who came across the border with nothing.

"He was 12 years old in search of his parents, who had found work in Texas outside of San Marcos," Escovedo recalls.

"He had 12 children, seven of whom became professional musicians. His contribution to American culture was pretty intense."

There are countless other such contributions made by Mexican people in the U.S., notes Escovedo, which is why the draconian border policies being proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives are so troubling for him.

Massive protests across the U.S. last year opposing the construction of a separation barrier along the U.S.-Mexican border proves that many others feel the same way. Escovedo says it makes By the Hand of the Father even more relevant now than it was seven years ago.

"What's known as the immigrant problem now is really just a smoke screen for other things," he reasons.

"It's obvious that in trying to target an enemy - be it terrorists from the Middle East or Mexicans from south of the border - it's just allowing the government to do what it wants: clamp down on society in America."