Wilco

Wilco rose from the ashes of one of the most respected alt-country groups of the 1990s, Uncle Tupelo, to emerge as a celebrated (and far more popular) act in their own right. Led by frontman Jeff Tweedy, Wilco have evolved from a country-rock band into an eclectic indie-rock collective that touches on many eras and genres in their music: ‘70s rock, country, Beach Boys-style pop, noise-rock and folk. As a result, no two Wilco albums sound the same, much to the delight of a fan base who embrace the band’s musical adventurism.

Wilco came together after Jeff Tweedy’s former band, the alt-country outfit Uncle Tupelo, folded in 1994. Like the Beatles, Uncle Tupelo had two frontmen, Tweedy and Jay Farrar, with each vocalist singing his own songs. But Farrar was generally considered the leader and true talent of the band. Farrar’s departure from Tupelo inspired Tweedy to start a new group, dubbed Wilco, with his former Tupelo bandmates: bassist John Stirratt, drummer Ken Coomer, and multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston. Personnel have come and gone in the intervening years, with only Tweedy and Stirratt remaining from the original lineup.

Wilco released their debut, A.M., in 1995, the same year that Farrar’s new group, Son Volt, released their debut, Trace. A.M. was a pleasant collection of alt-country tunes that was reminiscent of Tweedy’s work in Uncle Tupelo. While critics liked A.M., they saw the album as more proof that Tweedy was the weaker of the two Uncle Tupelo songwriters, particularly when Trace came out six months later and received stronger reviews.

Tweedy started to move out of Farrar’s shadow with Wilco’s second record. 1996’s Being There was a double-disc dose of rock and country that was more urgent, raw, confessional and explosive than A.M. In addition, an important collaborator had joined Wilco, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jay Bennett. While it’s hard to know precisely how crucial Bennett was to the making of Being There, it was clear that Wilco had evolved into a band that wanted to channel the energy of ‘70s rock radio within their contemporary material.

Wilco had enjoyed critical acclaim, but their profile increased exponentially thanks to a collaboration with punk-folk singer Billy Bragg on Mermaid Avenue in 1998. Working from a collection of unpublished lyrics from the influential folk artist Woody Guthrie, Bragg and Wilco set about adding music to Guthrie’s words. The first volume of Mermaid Avenue was championed as an inspiring merger of artists of different eras, and the album went on to be featured in many Top 10 lists at the end of the year. The collaboration resulted in a second volume being released in 2000.

Wilco was riding high on the critical success of Mermaid Avenue, but their next studio record contained little of the folk-rock influences of the Woody Guthrie project. Instead, 1999’s Summerteeth was almost a pop album, full of sunny melodies that were often undercut by Tweedy’s disturbing lyrics about spousal abuse and loneliness. Jay Bennett was listed as a co-writer with Tweedy on many of Summerteeth’s tracks, which raised questions about how much Bennett had helped influence the record, especially considering his roots in power-pop groups.

Wilco’s next studio album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, proved to be an ordeal. Creative tensions between Tweedy and Bennett eventually led to Bennett being fired. In addition, Max Johnston had left Wilco, and Glenn Kotche had replaced original drummer Ken Coomer. Compounding these personnel transitions, Tweedy was facing pressure from his label, Reprise, which refused to release Yankee. Wilco eventually managed to release the record on Nonesuch to great acclaim. Yankee represented a more experimental side to Wilco as songs flirted with noisy dissonance and studio fussing. To date, Yankee is the only Wilco album to go gold.

Wilco’s next album, 2004’s A Ghost Is Born, continued Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’s artsy experimentation, but the record’s merits were often overshadowed by Tweedy’s stint in a rehab facility before the album’s release to wean himself off painkillers. Inevitably, fans and critics examined A Ghost Is Born through the lens of drug addiction, but in some regards the album felt like a more confident exploration of uncertainty and identity than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

After two albums in which Wilco flexed their experimental muscles, 2007’s Sky Blue Sky seemed to many fans to be a regression – a simple, straightforward country and rock album with jam-band tendencies. To the contrary, Sky Blue Sky is an underrated gem, a relationship album that finds Tweedy dealing with marriage and mortality as he pushes 40.

'Wilco (The Album)':

Wilco announced that their next album, Wilco (The Album), would be released June 30, 2009 and would include an appearance from indie-pop songstress Feist. That same year, the band released their first live DVD, Ashes of American Flags.

Nels Cline – guitar
Mikael Jorgensen – keyboards
Glenn Kotche – drums
Pat Sansone – keyboards, guitar
John Stirratt – bass
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, guitar

Wilco Discography:

A.M. (1995)
Being There (1996)
Mermaid Avenue (with Billy Bragg) (1998)
Summerteeth (1999)
Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (with Billy Bragg) (2000)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
A Ghost Is Born (2004)
Kicking Television: Live in Chicago (live album) (2005)
Sky Blue Sky (2007)
Wilco (The Album) (2009)
The Whole Love (2011)

Wilco Trivia:

• Despite their own sizable following, Wilco have opened for artists like Neil Young and R.E.M. in the ‘00s.
• Wilco were the subject of the 2002 documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, which followed the band as they recorded Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
• Jay Bennett died May 24, 2009. He was 45.
• Jeff Tweedy has suffered from migraines since childhood. He would miss school because of the violent sickness these headaches caused.
• Wilco premiered the song “Wilco the Song” on The Colbert Report in October 2008.