by Akash Wadhwani
When midwesterners Uncle Tupelo split up in 1994, ending a brief but noteworthy run as avatars of alt-country, what happened after that was normal, even expected: one band became two; Uncle Tupelo’s Jay Farrar moved on to a new project in a similar vein, Son Volt; and some of Farrar’s ex-comrades regrouped as Wilco.
It’s what came next that we’re still talking about today. Wilco, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Jeff Tweedy, evolved, shedding their No Depression roots and bar-band inclinations with each new album to become something else — a smart and musically ambitious band hailed by critics and, eventually, scorned by their own record label.
Executives at the legendary Reprise Records vetoed the album that Wilco submitted for approval in 2001 and suddenly, your cool cowboy hipster friend’s favorite Americana band was a cause célèbre. The feud went public, band and label divorced, and Wilco landed on another branch of the Warner Music family tree, finding a home at the more avant-garde Nonesuch imprint.
If you know anything about the disputed album, 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, you know who prevailed. Wilco have made several more acclaimed records, but YHT was their Big Bang. It transformed them into alt-rock icons, and its strange, wandering, sometimes dissonant spirt opened up new possibilities for other bands. It lives on in reissues and best-of lists, and one can only guess what became of the record executive who let them get away.
A textbook case of self-belief and defiance in pursuit of a creative vision, Wilco are proof that greatness doesn’t seek approval, it attracts it through a willingness to struggle and learn from repeated failures until the work comes out right. Some people call this insanity — doing the same thing over again expecting a different result. Artists call it practice.
Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt, the sole original members, have since revived Woody Guthrie with pub-punk Billy Bragg, explored rock’s limits of listenability (2015’s Star Wars), and circled back to their alt-country roots (2022’s Cruel Country). Their latest, 2023’s Cousin, finds them closer to the reveries and experimentation of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
Wilco and Waxahatchee play the Fillmore Miami Beach 7:30pm Tuesday, April 29. wilcoworld.net ~ Tim Moffatt
