There's something about a near-death experience that brings out the introspection in a person. That was Alejandro Escovedo on "The Boxing Mirror," his first album after surviving his almost-fatal bout with hepatitis C in 2003.

Now, with the disease and the immediate trauma out of his system, he's ready to let it rock again on "Real Animal," an eighth solo record hitting the streets on June 24.

"I think it was just a matter of wanting to get away from the moodiness, from the somber tones of 'The Boxing Mirror,'" he says. "I just wanted to make a rock 'n' roll record."

Of course, that's not exactly a reach for Escovedo. The 57-year-old Texan launched his career back in 1975 in the San Francisco punk band The Nuns before going on to work in Rank and File and the True Believers.

"It's the story of my musical journey in life, a musical memoir," he says of "Real Animal," written with Chuck Prophet and produced by the legendary Tony Visconti (T. Rex, David Bowie).

"It covers everything from growing up in San Antonio to going to California and living in Huntingdon Beach, the clubs I went to and the bands I fell in love with, and then going to Hollywood where I followed bands like the Stooges, The Dolls, Mott the Hoople, Roxy Music. Then, going to San Francisco and wanting to make a movie about the worst band in the world and since we couldn't play, we became that band. That band was the Nuns."

The Nuns, who carry on to this day, own a piece of rock history, having opened the last show the Sex Pistols ever played. It was at that show that Johnny Rotten delivered his famous benediction, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"

Escovedo sure did.

"I think I realized at that point, it wasn't like a rock show, it was like a grand spectacle," he says. "I became a little disillusioned with music for a while, because you saw the under-workings of the music industry, how slimy and sleazy it was. I guess it hit me at that concert. I was expecting this great rock and they weren't -- they were burnt out, they were disillusioned themselves, partly because of how Malcolm McLaren manipulated them."

Shortly after that, Escovedo moved to New York and lived in that famous apartment building where he would ride the elevators with everyone from Johnny Thunders to Quentin Crisp to Sid and Nancy. It's captured on "Real Animal" in the gritty rocker "Chelsea Hotel '78."

After the tragedy with Sid and Nancy at the Chelsea, "the vibe there changed," he says, and Escovedo moved on toward more rootsy rock in the '80s with the alt-country pioneers Rank and File, recalled in the new song "Chip N' Tony," named for the Kinman brothers.

"We played everything from Bo Diddley to Joe Higgs reggae stuff, to Muddy Waters and Marty Robbins, songs from our record collections," he says of Rank and File. "And we wrote a few of our own. When I left The Nuns, I wanted to get back to music that I was really comfortable with."

Rank and File forged a scene with the likes of the Blasters, the Del Fuegos, the Rave-Ups and the Long Ryders, so-called "cowpunk" bands who were darlings of the college rock scene but just short of the mainstream.

"I was more disappointed that Rank and File didn't turn out to be as good as we hoped it would be than I was about the movement," he says. "After being in the first wave of punk bands, I saw a lot of movements come and go, from punk to roots, but the thing that seems to sustain any band is quality work and hard work."

In the '90s, Escovedo found his footing as a solo artist with acclaimed records like "Gravity" and "Thirteen Years" that had alt-country bible No Depression declaring him Artist of the Decade.

Then came his collapse -- on a stage in Tempe, Ariz., in 2002. Escovedo had been living with hepatitis C for several years and now he diagnosed with advanced cirrhosis of the liver. There was talk of a transplant, but through a mixture of Interferon, Chinese herbs and acupuncture, he was nursed back to health within a few years.

The inspiration and funding for his medical bills came from fellow musicians and industry people in the form of the benefit CD "Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo."

"For me, the experience was so may different things. So many textures to what happened. It was devastating, debilitating, humbling, embarrassing at times. Medical people were telling me that they expect the worst. If you can imagine all the things that go through your head. Then, when I recovered and came back strong, it really re-instated my faith in humanity. Without the musicians who contributed, the clubs, the booking agents, the sound people, the waiters and waitresses, all these people pitching in, I wouldn't have survived.

"In the end, when I first got sick I kind of felt like music was responsible for my illness. I didn't play guitar for a long time. Then I realized that music is what saved me. When I heard all those guys like Lenny Kaye, Jennifer Warnes, Ian McLagen, John Cale, Ian Hunter, my brothers [Pete and Javier], Sheila E [his niece], it's what helped me get off the bed and stand up straight and really start thinking forward."

Escovedo played the Three Rivers Arts Festival two years ago, touring on his recovery record, "The Boxing Mirror." With "Real Animal" fans can expect a different kind of show.

"Totally," he says, " 'cause this album has a lot of energy songs that are much more physical to play live. We've been having a great time playing the record. It's a totally different vibe than what we were playing before."