Wilco and WXRT released a video from the band's performance at the Metro last week more ›

Earlier this fall, Chicago alt-rock heroes Wilco released The Whole Love, the band’s eighth proper LP and their first release since forming their own record label (though ANTI- is distributing it) and it’s already heralded as the band’s best album since 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The band also self-produced the album and there are certain flourishes - dense layers of organ and percussion - that separate the album from previous efforts even as the band continues, overall, to sound like, well, Wilco. more ›

Featuring 127 tracks, Live from the Old Town School will be available Dec. 13. more ›

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy recently gave his support to the Occupy Wall Street movement, perhaps making future Rahm for Mayor fundraisers he plays, really, really awkward. more ›

Back from a two-year hiatus, the Hideout pulled in a few marquee names for this year's Block Party that have personal connections not only to Chicago but to the venue itself. more ›

Also, tickets for the band's December Civic Opera shows will go on sale Saturday morning at 10 a.m. more ›

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy was in Toronto for a concert recently and stopped for a bite at a sandwich shop, The name of the shop? Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company LTD. We have no excuse as to why this idea didn't make our list of things to which Wilco could lend their brand name. Tweedy also shows a droll sense of humor in his review of the sandwich shop, saying, "Lunch was really good, but, to be honest, I prefer their earlier more experimental sandwiches." more ›

Seeing as how Jeff Tweedy endorsed our new Mayor-elect, we thought it would be fitting that we just play something from Wilco today. We found just the right thing with this performance of "Airline to Heaven" at Farm Aid 2005, held in whatever corporate sponsor has naming rights to the outdoor music shed in Tinley Park back then. Bonus: they're introduced to the stage by none other than Senator Barack Obama, trying to fit in with his dad khakis. more ›

Mavis Staples and Buddy Guy were the local winners at last night's Grammy Awards. Staples won best Americana album for her Jeff Tweedy-produced You Are Not Alone. "This Grammy took a long time coming," Staples told a loudly approving audience. "But it was worth the wait." more ›

While Carol Moseley Braun was busy calling other mayoral candidates crack addicts at Trinity United Church of Christ, Rahm Emanuel continued his slow and steady march towards trying to avoid an April runoff election by... having a fundraiser at the Park West. The fundraiser featured musical performances by local retro-soul masters JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, who gave Emanuel the shot in the arm he promised a couple of weeks back. more ›

The news that Wilco is launching its own record label on top of everything else they've been slapping their name on lately (not to mention Jeff Tweedy's mayoral endorsement) smacks a lot of a branding strategy. We got together over the virtual water cooler and came up with some other products Wilco could possibly endorse. Check it out. more ›

Beer, baseball teams, festivals, sandwiches, coffee: The gents in Wilco have displayed a surprising strong business acumen throughout their long career. (Or at least a willingness to grant their blessing to weird stuff named after them). For their latest venture, though, they're involvement is much more direct. According to the Los Angeles Times, Wilco's forming their own record label, dBpm Records. more ›

Rahm Emanuel's list of big-whig backers, like R&B pop-star Jennifer Hudson, Bill Clinton and the president himself, Barack Obama, just got even longer today. The Huffington Post just announced that Wilco's main man, Chicago music-mainstay, Jeff Tweedy has joined the ranks to help get Emanuel raise funds for his mayoral campaign. Tweedy has often been known to support the political candidates and causes he believes in, having done concerts for Chicago Public Schools, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and of course, the big cheese, Barack Obama. more ›

We like to think of our fellow Chicagoans as big-hearted folks, and we fancy our comedians as some of the best in the business. For their 9th annual holiday benefit, "The Second City That Never Sleeps: Letters to Santa," Second City is corralling big-hearted comedians and other performers for a full 24 hours of music, improv and some sweet looking raffle prizes. more ›

Two of the best old and young collaborations in recent years were the late Oscar Brown, Jr. with Kelly Hogan, and Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy. Staples, simply put, is a local treasure, able to effortlessly bridge the gap between gospel and soul with none of the self-consciousness many of us have about singing alone in the kitchen. more ›

Yeah, we know, it's been a week since this year's Lollapalooza kicked off and several days since it wrapped up. But we're just clearing out some photos and taking one last trip down Lolla Lane before we put the official wraps on this year's fest. Enjoy some of our leftover photos and photos from our Flickr Pool. Until next year... more ›

Special to Chicagoist from Neph Basedow more ›

Tickets for tonight’s SCTV Reunion might be sold out, but you can still catch some of Second City’s alumni next week in the company’s 8th annual event The Second City That Never Sleeps: Letters to Santa. more ›

It's been a hot minute since Wilco touched down in Chicago, despite a heavy touring 2009 touring schedule behind their self-titled seventh studio album. When they finally did descend upon the UIC Pavilion Sunday and Monday nights, their hometown was out en masse to support. If the guys are tired of globetrotting, they didn't show it - leader Jeff Tweedy was a witty, engaging host in leading his band through a career-spanning two-plus hours of music. The old schoolers got "It's Just That Simple," "Monday" and "Kingpin;" the middle schoolers bobbed to "Heavy Metal Drummer," "I'm The Man Who Loves You" and "Handshake Drugs;" the new schoolers sang along to "Impossible Germany," "Wilco (The Song)" and "You Never Know." Tweedy made sure everyone knew the "live Wilco" tricks like the handclaps in "Kingpin," which only solidified the lovey vibe between the six dudes on stage and the 9,000 people in the arena. more ›

Today's weather is gonna feel like late August. Sunny skies, brisk south winds, rising humidities...too bad this could be summer's last hurrah? Well, probably not as we typically see plenty of warm spells but a glance at the rest of the week shows cloudy and cool in the forecast. ANYWAY. Today. Yes. It will be nice and warm with highs in the upper 80s. Overnight, lows drop into the upper 60s and a chance of storms as the night wears on, especially towards the north burbs. more ›

While it reveals nothing new about the man behind the music, the New York Times has a good profile of Jeff Tweedy in today's edition. more ›

It's a big week for Wilco. While Chicago's most popular alt-rock band wraps up the Western U.S. leg of their tour and gear up for the East Coast segment, their new self-titled LP sees its official release tomorrow. Of course, you don't have to sit on your hands waiting for the record store to open tomorrow morning to grab your copy. The Hideout, in conjunction with Laurie's Planet of Sound, is hosting a live band Wilco karaoke night. Featuring the Wilco cover ensemble The Late Greats, you'll have your chance to get up on stage and belt out "Casino Queen" or "I Got You" all you like. Then, at midnight, you'll have a chance to purchase copies of the new record. All it costs to get in is $5 but what price can be put on watching Wilco lovers emulate their favorite band on stage? [h/t Time-Out Chicago] more ›

If you're not quite in the Lollapalooza spirit this year or you'd rather spend $80 on a good ticket for an intimate show than a sweaty festival or maybe, dammit, you just love Wilco and are disappointed they aren't playing this year's fest, then Jeff Tweedy is coming to your rescue. And it's for a good cause. On Saturday, August 8, Tweedy - with opening support from Second City alum and current Colbert Report writer Peter Grosz - is playing a benefit solo show at Emanuel Congregation. Seating is general admission and set in three tiers by price: more ›

I got a group email yesterday from a music geek friend who needed to get something off his chest: He was afraid of the new Wilco album. Afraid of another collection of "New York-y art crap" from one of his favorite bands, devoid of all the angsty alt-country stomp 'n' roll that spoke to him 15 years ago. more ›

Below is the full text of the public filing of Jay Bennett vs. Jeff Tweedy sent in by reader ChgoDiver. more ›

We've long defended Jay Bennett's importance to Wilco. We thought he was the foil frontman Jeff Tweedy needed. However, we find it distressing to see the Trib report that Bennett is launching a lawsuit against Tweedy, "claiming Tweedy owes him money from the band's 2002 documentary [I Am Trying To Break Your Heart] and royalties on songs written during Bennett's seven years with the group." more ›

Chicago rockers Wilco are all set to unleash a new DVD upon us. Titled Ashes of An American Flag, the film will consist of footage shot during their February 2008 tour. We figured it would heavily incorporate footage from their five night residency at The Riv, but according to Billboard, the footage was shot at the Tulsa, New Orleans, Mobile, Nashville, and Washington, D.C. shows. The DVD was set for a late April/early May release, but the band will give indie -retailers a head start by releasing copies to independently-owned stores for Record Store Day on April 18. Tweedy told Billboard:

My introduction to a lot of great music and to the 'music business' came from hanging around and eventually working at independent record stores in Belleville, Ill., and St. Louis many years back. It's the life I know. Nothing beats browsing in your favorite store, listening to music, finding something new or old that you've been searching for, being ignored by the store clerks, all that. And without these stores, there's just no way Wilco would still be around. They've been with us from the very beginning, through thick and thin. Even if I wasn't in a band, I'd still support Record Store Day. It's a great thing and I'm glad we could do something special with them for our DVD.

We've long maintained Wilco's Jeff Tweedy made a huuuuuge mistake when he unceremoniously booted Jay Bennett from the band, especially since it meant that after a brief flurry of solo activity, we haven't heard a lick of Bennett's delicious orch-pop. Well, that situation is about to change as Bennett prepares to release three albums in the next couple months: a solo disc, a collaboration with Ed Burch, and a Titanic Love Affair reunion. We bet any one song off each of those discs will have more hooks than in all of A Ghost Is Born. [S-T] more ›

Poet Thax Douglas has long been described as a polarizing figure in the local music scene, but after viewing the recent documentary on Douglas, Thax: The Movie, we've decided that viewpoint is skewed and incorrect. While there are a number of incredibly vocal critics who deride Douglas' presence at shows, the overriding majority of musicians and concert attendees appreciate his contributions to the community. Luminaries from Ted Leo, to Josh Caterer, to Jeff Tweedy sing the praises of Douglas' wordsmithing, and we even admit to gaining a new appreciation of his work now that we have a broader view of the poet's background. more ›

Even the cops can't get enough Wilco. While our Chicagoist photographer sat in line waiting to get into Friday night's show, a CPD cruiser drove by by with the intro to "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" planking away on it's megaphone, eliciting a roar from the crowd. more ›