It's tempting to call Austin, Texas country-rocker Alejandro Escovedo the Forrest Gump of indie rock, but he deserves to be associated with a much better movie. In 1978, his first band, San Francisco punkers The Nuns, opened the last-ever Sex Pistols show prior to the Pistols' brief mid-90s reunion. He was living in the Chelsea Hotel in New York City when the Pistol's' Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen checked in; Spungen would soon die under mysterious circumstances. Escovedo's new song "Chelsea" tells the tale, also the subject of Alex Cox's 1986 film Sid & Nancy. There we go: Much, much better than Forrest Gump.

In the '80s, Alejandro played guitar in the great post-punk outfit Rank and File. His first solo album, 1992's Gravity, revealed a stunning lyrical gift that had not emerged previously though he was already in his 40s. The album and its follow-ups made an impression strong enough to get him named "Artist of the Decade" by the late alt-country mag No Depression in April 1998.

In 2003, Escovedo was hospitalized immediately after a performance. He'd been diagnosed with Hepatitis C years before, but ignored his illness, continuing to drink and smoke and keep rock-star hours. He began a course of treatment using Interferon, a natural protein. He described the harrowing experience of interferon to PopMatters' Matt Gonzalez in a 2006 interview: "[It] attacks everything in your immune system. My bone marrow was being eaten away. I had no white blood cells, I had no red blood cells. I was withering away. I had no muscle mass, and I had what would be called premature aging disease. Not to mention all the psychological and spiritual damage as a result of taking that stuff."

More than two dozen alt-country ringers, from the reunited Son Volt to Lucinda Williams, contributed covers of Escovedo's songs to Por Vida, a benefit compilation intended to defray Escovedo's medical costs and his loss of income from touring — pretty much his only income, as his critically adored albums had never sold in significant numbers. He recovered to deliver two of the best albums of his career, 2006's The Boxing Mirror and Real Animal, which became his first album to land in the Billboard 200 upon its release two weeks ago.

DCist spoke with Escovedo by phone as his tour bus was en route from Toronto to New York City, battling a dicey cell signal to talk about his new record, his big promotion from The Boss, and why he couldn't play his song "Castanets" for a while. He headlines the 9:30 Club Saturday night.

Your new album, Real Animal, has been getting all kinds of favorable reviews, which is not unusual for you, but actually showing up in the Billboard 200 is something I'm pretty sure you’ve never had happen in a 30-year career. Are you surprised that has happened for you now? Is there something about this album that makes it more accessible than your prior records?

I was totally surprised by that. The Billboard 200 is not something I was very familiar with, obviously. To have it out there at whatever it was [No. 122!] was a big deal; it made me very happy.

Chuck Prophet shares songwriting credit with you on every song on Real Animal. This is the first time you’ve done a whole album with a co-writer, but the songs are the most autobiographical stuff you’ve ever put out there. That seems like a paradox. How did you decide to bring Chuck in, and what did he contribute?

I decided to work with Chuck when were doing some solo touring together. We were talking a lot, and I was telling him about this idea I had to tell this story. When we got back, I thought it would be a good idea to call him up and have him come out. So he came out to Texas and we tried it. The first song we wrote was “Slow Down,” which is the last song on the record. It just felt like we had a really good combination of technique and ideas.

I always felt like Chuck was a real stickler for detail, you know. His eye for detail was what I was looking for. He’s a great songwriter on his own, and a great guitar player.

[Escovedo continues, but his cell phone drops out.]

Did you always intend going into this record to write your autobiography, basically, set to music?

I had an idea that that was the story I wanted to tell: The different bands I’d been in, the characters, you know? Originally there were other songs and other characters, but once Chuck came on board it really started to take shape.

Tony Visconti produced this album. People know him for his work with Bowie on a lot of his key records, and also for working with T. Rex in the 70s. So you’re working with one of the major figures of the era when you started out, and you’re paying homage to the stars of that scene — Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed — all over this album, I think it’s fair to say, even quoting Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” musically on “Golden Bear.”

Did you have any trepidation about acknowledging your influences so openly?

Well, I’ve always done that in my music. We used to play part of [Lou Reed’s] “Street Hassle” in songs, or we’d be improvising and we’d go into [The Stooges’] “I Wanna Be Your Dog” or whatever. That’s always been a part of what I do live; to pay homage to these writers and these songs, ever since I first started playing. So to do it on this record really wasn’t a stretch for me, and I never feel self-conscious about having done that. It always feels natural. I love that music, and I’m not ashamed to say it.

You seem to get compared to Bruce Springsteen a fair amount, and just got a new manager in Jon Landau, who music people know has been Bruce’s guy since the mid-70s. Your performance of Real Animal's opening track, “Always a Friend” with Bruce and the E Street band in Houston back in April is about to be released on a digital EP of live tracks from Bruce’s ongoing Magic tour next week. What’s the connection between you and Bruce, and how do you feel about him giving that performance — which Pitchfork picked up, and a lot of people were talking about the day after it happened — an official release?

I never met Bruce prior to getting onstage with him, basically. I went to the show to meet up with my managers, and the meeting turned out to be in front of 18,000 people. It was an amazing experience, [playing] with that band. He was just super, super cool; very generous. I feel like those four minutes onstage with him were probably the most important thing I’ve ever done in my musical experience.

Escovedo's performance of "Always a Friend" with The Boss at a Springsteen concert last April gets an official release next week.

How did it come about that you played not just a song off your record, but off your record that wouldn't even come out for two months at that point? Was that your idea or his?

Bruce was on the plane coming into Houston, listening to the album, and as soon as that song came on, apparently he slammed his hand down on the table and said, "I want to do this song tonight. Call [Escovedo] and ask him if he wants to do it."

I was on my way, and they wanted to know if I could be at the soundcheck in, like, 45 minutes, which I couldn't. When I got there I practiced it with him acoustically a couple of times in his dressing room, and then the band came in and we rehearsed it once. Then we did it in front of 18,000 people. It was really something.

Pretty good way to launch your new record.

[Laughs.] It really was.

In 2003, you were hospitalized and out of action for a while. How’s your health these days?

I'm doing great. I feel stronger than ever. I'm working hard and taking care of myself.

You’ve toured with a string quartet, and in your solo albums, you’ve always made a string section — violin and cello, I think — part of the lineup. How did a guy who came up out of punk come to rely so heavily on the cello and the violin?

A lot of that is from Street Hassle. A record by John Cale called Paris 1919 had a lot to do with how I integrated the strings with the rock and roll band. I think that strings really lend themselves to the kind of songs I write, and they have this aural quality most bands don’t have. I’m always going to work with strings. I’ve been doing that probably since the late 80s. They’ll always be a part of my sound.

You just opened a string of shows for the Dave Matthews band. How did that come to pass?

It was actually [Matthews'] choice. He chose us amongst a group of bands that were dying to open up for him. I think he felt a real kinship for the songwriting and the band. He actually heard of us from Steve Earle. But once again, here's a guy who treated us really well. He was super-genuine and nice to us. He would come out and introduce us every night and try to get his audience to listen to us.

You’re probably getting a lot of people coming out for shows this tour who have never seen you before. What are you playing to introduce them to your catalogue?

We're putting together a set based around Real Animal. Let's say we have 12 songs — probably nine of them are new songs. Then we're doing some older stuff, like "Rosalie." We do "Castanets," "Baby I Was Drunk," and we do that song "Put You Down." But most of the focus is on the new record.

I read somewhere that you stopped playing "Castanets" after that one turned up on George W. Bush's iPod. True?

I had given up on the song at that point. But we're playing it now because he's going to leave, and we're quite enthused about that. Let's hope it sticks around long enough to rid itself of that association.

Alejandro Escovedo performs at the 9:30 Club this Saturday. Vandaveer opens. 7 p.m. doors, $20.