Jeff Tweedy chats about his new book on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Jeff Tweedy of Wilco stopped by the Late Show to discuss his third book, World Within A Song available here. 

Joan Shelley's new album out May 5

Be sure to arrive at Massey Hall before Wilco appears to see Louisville's delightful Joan Shelley preview her new album.  

The new self-titled album from the Kentucky singer, songwriter, and guitarist Joan Shelley began, with the sound of a fiddle. In the summer of 2014, Shelley fell for the tune “Hog of the Forsaken,” a bowed rollick near the end of Michael Hurley’s wayward 1976 folk gem, Long Journey (Rounder). Hurley’s voice, it seemed to Shelley, clung to the fiddle's melody, dipping where it dipped and climbing where it climbed.

This was a small, significant revelation, prompting the guitarist to trade temporarily six strings for four and, as she puts it, “try to play like Michael.” That is, she wanted to sing what she played, to play what she sang. She tried it, for a spell, with the fiddle. “Turns out, I wasn’t very good at fiddle,” remembers Shelley, chuckling. “But I took that idea back to the guitar and tried that same method. I did it as a game to make these songs, a way to find another access point.” But that wasn’t the end of the trials.

After collaborating and touring with ace guitarist Nathan Salsburg for so many years, Shelley decided to put her entire guitar approach to the test, too. Each day, she would twist and turn into a different tuning, letting her fingers fumble along the strings until the start of a tune began to emerge. After playing the songs of her critically acclaimed third album, Over and Even, so many nights during so many shows, the trick pushed her hands out of her habits and into a short, productive span that yielded most of Joan Shelley. It’s fitting that the new recording is self-titled. These are, after all, Shelley’s most assured and complete thoughts to date.

Joan Shelley's s/t album is out May 5th on No Quarter. Get it here. 

In eleven songs, this is the sound of Joan Shelley emerging. To get there, she had a little more help than usual. In December 2016, she headed a few hours north to Chicago, where she and Salsburg joined Jeff Tweedy in Wilco’s studio aka The Loft for five days. Spencer Tweedy sat in on drums, while James Elkington shifted between piano and resonator guitar. Jeff added electric accents and some bass, but mostly, he helped the band stay out of its own way. “He was protecting the songs. He was stopping us before we went too far.” she says.

The Loft proved essential for that approach, as it was wired to capture every musical moment, so no take was lost. If, for instance, some magic happened while Spencer Tweedy added drums to a tune he’d never heard, or while Elkington tinkered behind a piano, the tape was rolling. Half of these songs are first takes. “The first time is always the best. That’s when everyone’s on the edge of their seats, listening to not mess it up,” Shelley says. “They’re depending on each other to get through it.”

Shelley’s music has never been experimental, at least in some bleeding-edge sense of the word. And she’s comfortable with that, proud of the fact that her simple songs are attempts to express complex emotion and address difficult question about life, love, lust, and existence itself. During “The Push and Pull,” for instance, she precisely captures the emotional tug of war as two people struggle to codify a relationship, her voice perking up and slinking down to illustrate the idea.

For “Go Wild,” she wrestles with principles of independence and dependence, forgiveness and freedom, her tone luxuriating inside the waltz as though this were a permanent state of being. These are classic ideas, rendered brilliantly anew. But in their own personal way, these songs are experimental and risky, built with methods that pushed Shelley out of the comfort zone she’s established on a string of records defined by a mesmerizing sort of grace and clarity. The shifts are not so much major as they are marked, suggestive of the same curiosity and rumination that you find in the pastoral pining of “If the Storms Never Came” or the subtle romance of “Even Though.”

From genesis through gestation and on to execution, these songs document transitions to destinations unknown. “I don’t have a concept, and I don’t know the meaning until much later. Whatever I am soaking up or absorbing from the world, there will be songs that reflect all those thoughts,” Shelley says. “I keep my songwriting alive and sustainable by trying to be honest about how it came out—these are all its jagged edges, and that’s what it is to be human.” Watch a couple of Joan's recent performances followed by a list of upcoming tour dates.




Joan Shelley on Tour

Mar 18 – Beacon Theater – New York, NY #
Mar 19 – Beacon Theater – New York, NY #
Mar 22 – Lincoln Center – New York, NY %
Mar 23-26 – Big Ears Festival – Knoxville, TN
Apr 4 – Bijou Theatre – Knoxville, TN  !
Apr 7 – Memorial Hall – Cincinnati, OH  !
Apr 9 – Old Town School of Folk Music – Chicago, IL !
Apr 10 – Old Town School of Folk Music – Chicago, IL !
Apr 12 – Kent Stage – Kent, OH !
Apr 13 – Strand-Capitol Performing Arts – York, PA !
Apr 14 – Tarrytown Music Hall – Tarrytown, NY !
Apr 16 – The Colonial Theatre – Bethlehem, PA !
Apr 18 – Sanders Theatre – Cambridge, MA !
Apr 19 – Landmark – Port Washington, NY !
Apr 27 – Debarras – Clonakilty, IE
Apr 28 – Kilkenny Roots Festival – Kilkenny, IE
Apr 29 – Kilkenny Roots Festival – Kilkenny, IE
Apr 30 – Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival – Belfast, UK
May 3 – The Greyhound – Kilkee, IE
May 4 – Whelan’s Upstairs – Dublin, IE
May 5 – The Glad Café – Glasgow, UK
May 6 – The Eagle Inn – Manchester, UK
May 7 – The Wardrobe – Bristol, UK
May 8 – The Lexington – London, UK
May 31 – The Bishop – Bloomington, IN *
June 1 – Colectivo – Milwaukee, WI *
June 2 – Bryant Lake Bowl – Minneapolis, MN *
June 3 – Old Town School of Folk Music – Chicago, IL *
June 4 – CSPH Hall – Cedar Rapids, IA *
June 6 – Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA *
June 7 – Knuckleheads – Kansas City, MO *
June 8 – KDHX Stage – St. Louis, MO *
June 9 – Maiden Alley Cinema – Paducah, KY *
June 10 – Headliners – Louisville, KY *
June 11 – The Basement – Nashville, TN *
June 13 – Eddies Attic – Decatur, GA *
June 14 – Cat’s Cradle Backroom – Carrboro, NC *
June 15 – Jammin’ Java – Vienna, VA *
June 16 – Concerts in the Studio – Freehold, NJ *
June 17 – Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA *
June 18 – Parlor Room – Northampton, MA *
June 20 – Boot & Saddle – Philadelphia, PA *
June 23-24 – Solid Sound Festival – North Adams, MA
# – w/ Wilco
% – as part of the American Songbook series
! – w/ Richard Thompson
* – w/ Jake Xerxes Fussell

Bob Egan plays final show with Blue Rodeo @ Molson Amphitheatre, Saturday

Steel guitar ace Bob Egan bids farewell to Blue Rodeo's Toronto fans Saturday. Offers a life lesson below.

“Blue Rodeo’s show this Saturday, August 20 at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto will be our final show with our beloved pedal steel player Bob Egan, who is graduating from a highly successful career in music to a job in the public sector he feels is more suited to his new role as a 60 year old father of a 1 year old boy.

Bob has been with us for 17 wonderful years, a cherished band mate and friend, a big hearted man who gives tirelessly of himself, whether it’s through his charity work, his family, his work or his friendship. You always know you can count on Bob.

In over 20 years as a professional musician, Bob was a member of Freakwater,Wilco, and Blue Rodeo, released his own solo material and guested on countless recordings, including The Tragically Hip’s classic, Bobcaygeon. We will miss him terribly and wish him all the best in his new vocation. Love you, Bob.” – Glenn Milchem

An Open letter from Bob Egan

Bob Egan here, writing an open letter to Canada on the cusp of my final show with Blue Rodeo.

These last 17 years have literally been a dream come true for me. From an awkward teen playing the Legion Halls of Central Illinois to a grown man playing on the stages of the world, this journey has exceeded my wildest dreams.

Seventeen years ago on my first day in Canada, as I walked down Queen Street in Toronto, I experienced a feeling I had never felt in my life. I felt like I belonged. I felt surrounded by people I could relate to. I felt at peace. And after 40 years of searching, I finally felt at home.

That day changed my life but it was only the beginning. Over the years, from coast to coast, you Canadians welcomed me into your towns and cities, your homes and your arms. You shared your stories, your celebrations and sorrows, but most of all you shared your love. This, my fellow Canadians, is the greatest reward of my life.

To serve in Blue Rodeo is to experience a level and intensity of camaraderie that is unimaginable. For almost two decades I’ve had the honour of sharing the stages, the dressing rooms, the studios and buses all over this world. In this strange bubble of an existence I experienced the truest and deepest friendships. The support and the love of my bandmates has led to the greatest joys of my life – music, my sobriety, my wife and my new son Leo. For this, I am eternally grateful.

Family has always been the the most valued cornerstone of my life and the embrace of the extended Blue Rodeo family has been a wellspring of unconditional true love.

The bonds we share amongst our children, our siblings, our parents, our spouses and our loved ones run deep in the Rodeo family and I’ll treasure them all my days.

From Blue Rodeo I learned some of life’s most precious lessons – work to bring joy into people’s lives, take a stand for greater good, try to make this world a better place and above all, share the love.

It is with these lessons I embark on the next journey of my life. My membership in Blue Rodeo has opened the doors for me to be of service to my adopted hometown of Kitchener, ON., and I am proud, honoured and humbled by this opportunity.

To you, the supporters and fans, I will be forever indebted for it is you who have truly made me feel at home.

To my bandmates, though our paths may part, the ties that bind us never will.
You will always be my family.          – Bob Egan

Nels Cline @ The Horseshoe, tonight

Guitarist Nels Cline is very nearly as popular as his '59 Fender Jazzmaster purchased from Mike Watt. 

Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion @ The Drake Hotel, tonight

Having Jeff Tweedy produce Wassaic Way may not have been such a shrewd move after all.

One For The Weekend: Wanda Jackson

Here's the entertaining new video for Wanda Jackson's cover of Freddie King's Tore Down directed by Seth Graves and featuring The Ettes' bad girls Lindsay "Coco" Hames and Maria "Poni" Silver along with a cameo by a hungry Ron Jeremy.



Wanda's version of Tore Down is taken from her new album Unfinished Business which was produced by Justin Townes Earle and includes the rockabilly queen's interpretations of Bobby Womack's It's All Over Now and Wilco's revision of Woody Guthrie's California Stars. Sugar Hill is putting it out October 9, just in time for her 75th birthday on October 20.  Check out the preview clip below:

New studio album due from Bill Fay!

Unlikely as it may seem, the Dead Oceans label has announced that they will be releasing a new studio album from legendary UK singer/songwriter Bill Fay on August 21. There have been a couple of somewhat patchy collections of demos and  outtakes over the past decade – notably Wooden Hill's From The Bottom Of An Old Grandfather Clock issued in 2004 and the Jnana Records double disc collection Still Some Light from 2010 – but the new Bill Fay recording Life Is People will be his first proper studio set since his 1971 classic Time Of The Last Persecution for Deram (which Esoteric reissued in 2008).

Fay's first two deep and dark solo album's, his self-titled 1970 debut for Decca's Nova subsidiary and Time Of The Last Persecution are both highly prized artifacts, coveted by a small but ardent community of freak-folk fanatics and a largely uncredited touchstone for the 90s Americana movement. Both Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and the Jayhawks' Gary Louris have drawn inspiration from Fay's early masterworks while Jim O'Rourke, Ben Chasny of Six Organs Of Admittance and David Tibet of Current 93 are also Bill Fay fan club members. So the appearance of album's worth of new Bill Fay material is really good news and it'll be fantastic news if it's actually good. Here's hoping!

Have a look at the Dead Oceans press release:

Bill Fay is one of England’s best kept secrets – a genuine national treasure and we are delighted to release what we believe is his true masterpiece. Titled Life is People, the new record is Fay’s first properly crafted studio album since 1971 and it’s out on August 21.

Back at the dawn of the 1970s, Fay was a one-man song factory, with a piano that spilled liquid gold and a voice every bit the equal of Ray Davies, John Lennon, early Bowie, or Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker. He made two solo albums but quickly disappeared from the music scene, leaving his LPs and his reputation to become cult items, namedropped by the likes of Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Jim O’Rourke. But he never stopped dreaming, the music kept on coming. Now, in his late sixties, he has produced a record that shows his profoundly humanist vision is as strong as it ever was.

And it’s a stunning return to form. The lush and expansive effect is completed by a cello, string quartet and a gospel choir, electric organs and pianos and a rich weave of acoustic and electric guitars. Ranging from intimate to cosmic, epic but never grandiose, Bill’s deeply committed music reminds you of important, eternal truths, and the lessons to be drawn from the natural world, when the materiality and greed threaten to engulf everything.

PRAISE FOR BILL FAY

“I can’t think of anyone whose records have meant more in my life.” - Jeff Tweedy

“Each one of the records Bill Fay has put out in four decades is different, and each is indispensable. His graceful melodies, elegantly plain lyrics, and mystical tenderness towards all life move me like little else does. He is rock music’s conscience.” - Will Sheff

Paul Burch lights up Wacos on Great Chicago Fire

Over eight boisterously blustery albums for Bloodshot, what the Waco Brothers have lacked in the subtleties of singing and songcraft, Jon Langford and his bruising band of British country-pub bashers have always made up for with pure piss 'n' vinegar. Way over on the opposite end of the twangy spectrum, Nashville traditionalist crooner Paul Burch has a well-earned rep for knocking out new tunes that sound remarkably like early 50s honky tonk classics. So put them together in a studio and you could have an epic brawl on your hands or a heavenly hayseed hybrid destined to go viral.

Either way, it had to be worth the risk for both parties since the Wacos have been putting out pretty much the same album for the last few years and Burch's recent associations with Mark Knopfler and PBS documentary filmmakers was a worrying turn considering his prior string of artistic successes fronting the WPA Ballclub. 

After hearing the recorded results on Great Chicago Fire (out April 24), it appears that cooler heads prevailed, at least long enough to come up with something even better than anyone could've expected. As with Wilco's unexpectedly successful throwdown with Billy Bragg on the Woody Guthrie song project Mermaid Avenue or even Amy Winehouse's career-changing encounter with Brooklyn's Dap-Kings for Back To Black, there seems to be something in the Brits-meet-Yanks concept that sufficiently ups the creative ante to make great things possible if everyone involved is willing to participate in the cultural exchange.

There are a couple of songs where Burch sounds like a tipsy club-owner who jumped onstage for a Wacos encore and others which you can envision the seated Wacos plonking their way through Burch's sheet music but Great Chicago Fire's finest moments are the true collaborations like Wrong Side Of Love, Transfusion Blues and Up On The Mountain which neither could've done better on their own. Hopefully it's not a one-off.

Paul Burch will put down the books to join the Waco Brothers in Austin for Bloodshot's annual day party at Yard Dog (1510 South Congress)  on Friday (March 16) at 5:30 pm prior to Bloodshot's official SXSW showcase at Red Eyed Fly (715 Red River) on Saturday (March 17) at 10:30 pm. Additionally, Burch will appear on a bill with Jon Langford, Rosie Flores and Garland Jefferies at The Ginger Man (301 Lavaca) on Thursday (March 15) at 2:30 pm. 

LINKS
label http://bloodshotrecords.net/wacosburchpress/
Paul Burch http://www.paulburch.com/fr_homeplate.cfm
Jon Langford http://jonlangford.de/
Yard Dog Gallery http://www.yarddog.com/

Celebs come out for Nick Lowe's Sensitive Man

What's behind Wilco's odd new Popeye video

It struck me as more than a bit strange when I read that King Features and dBpm Records had joined forces for the release of a new cartoon and animated music video for Wilco’s “Dawned On Me” featuring Popeye the Sailor Man. Upon discovering the clip had been directed by Darren Romanelli, everything started making a lot more sense.

You see, Romanelli isn't only the face of the Dr. Romanelli fashion line,  he's also the custom marketing specialist behind Street Virus who conceived the animated collaboration between Wilco and King Features’ flagship character Popeye, first introduced in animated form by Fleischer Studios in 1933.

Romanelli's marketing team was initially hired by King Features to curate the resurrection and reintroduction of their Beetle Bailey comic strip character to contemporary consumers. What became known as the Dr. Romanelli: Camp Swampy project first appeared to the public in the form of Converse's Bosey model sneakers which look like army-style Chuck Taylors with Beetle Bailey graphics inside the shoe. Of course, the shoes and jackets with Beetle Bailey on the back were just the beginning. The clever bit was hitting on the Army Vs. Navy strategy as a way to reintroduce an even bigger King Features property, Popeye The Sailor Man.

The next phase came last September with the roll out of MediCom Toy's new Beetle Bailey and Popeye Bearbrick dolls. Then in October, the new Converse Popeye-style Chuck Taylors popped up alongside their Beetle Bailey shoes at Bloomingdales just in time for the holidays.

So the Wilco new video clip is essentially just latest phase of Romanelli's elaborate Camp Swampy campaign – a sneaky commercial for their King Features product lines designed to hit the 50+ target demographic: Wilco fans.   

Jeff Tweedy and company have never been gung-ho about allowing their music to be used in advertising. Neither have they been keen on wasting loads of money on promotional videos – they haven't done one since 1999's  I'm Always In Love off of Summerteeth and that was a straight rehearsal space performance clip – which makes this unusual venture with Romanelli's marketing team that much more intriguing. Now that they've completed and released the long-form commercial for Popeye, could there be Wilco brand canned spinach on grocery shelves next? Or perhaps a new series of collectible Wilco Bearbrick dolls? Stay tuned.    

Dawned On Me by Wilco

Sarah Lee & Johnny @ The Horseshoe Tuesday

California Stars by Wilco feat. Sarah Lee & Johnny



Never Far From My Heart by Sarah Lee & Johnny



Interview



Sarah Lee & Johnny on Last Call with Carson Daly



Last Snow by Sarah Lee & Johnny

Listen to Wilco's new album The Whole Love

Three weeks prior to Wilco's official release of The Whole Love, they're thoughtfully streaming their much-anticipated forthcoming album right here for 24 hours... gratis!

Wilco (The Label)

 photo by Zoran Orlic

After a number of well-publicized record company squabbles, Wilco has left Nonesuch and formed a label of their own run by the group's longtime manager Tony Margherita from his office in Easthampton, Ma.
According to a press release issued today, the new label has been given the catchy handle dBpm Records – unfortunately both Margaritaville Records and Pizza Records were already taken – and will release "all future Wilco recordings and more." What else besides Wilco's waxings is anybody's guess. The label's distribution is being handled by ANTI- who not coincidentally issued the Mavis Staples album You Are Not Alone that Wilco mainman Jeff Tweedy produced last year.

"This is an idea we've discussed for years,” said Tweedy in the statement. “We really like doing things ourselves, so having our own label feels pretty natural to me. And, to be working with ANTI- a label that has its roots in a label that was started by a punk rock guy to sell his own records seems like a perfect fit for us.”

The punk rock guy to whom Tweedy is referring is Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz who founded ANTI-'s parent label Epitaph. 

"Wilco's independent streak is well documented and nothing new," added Margherita. "and this is the culmination of what we've been working towards for the last 15 years. As we reached the end of our last deal, it felt like it was time for a change and the one thing we were certain we did NOT want to do was to sign another traditional recording agreement. Our discussions with ANTI-, coming on the back of a great experience working with them on the Mavis Staples record, led us to thinking we might be able to come up with something quite different from the norm that could potentially be better for us and, frankly, a lot more interesting. And that's exactly what happened....”

Wilco is currently holed up in Chicago recording the follow-up to 2009's Wilco (The Album) while Tweedy has announced plans for a short solo jaunt starting in Toronto at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on March 22 (see the Early Warning listings) followed by a brief Wilco tour in May.