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Jeff Tweedy (born August 25, 1967 in Belleville, Illinois, United States) is an American songwriter, musician, and poet. He was originally a member of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo from 1987 until 1994. A year after Uncle Tupelo broke up Tweedy formed alternative rock group Wilco, who found popular success with their albums Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born. Tweedy has also participated in a number of side groups including Golden Smog and Loose Fur, and recorded an album with The Minus 5. Tweedy's vocal style is considered nasal, emotional, and scratchy.

Early life

Tweedy was born in Belleville, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, on August 25, 1967. His father worked at a railroad company, so Tweedy's experience with music during his childhood was limited. He befriended Jay Farrar and spent a lot of time at Farrar's house listening to music. All of the members of Farrar's family enjoyed playing music, causing Farrar to already have a knowledge of the elements of rock and roll. By this time, Tweedy was a fan of The Ramones and country music while Farrar enjoyed The Sex Pistols. In 1984, Tweedy and Jay Farrar formed a band with Mike Heidorn and Jay's older brother Wade Farrar. The band named themselves The Primatives, and played mostly cover songs. Wade Farrar sang lead vocals and played harmonica, Jay Farrar played guitar, Tweedy played bass guitar, and Heirdorn played drums. In late 1986, the band decided to change their name to Uncle Tupelo, because a more popular British band was also using the name "The Primatives".Mike Heidorn's liner notes for No Depression, which were included in the 2003 re-issue of the album

Music career

Uncle Tupelo (1987-1994)

Jeff Tweedy first recorded songs with Uncle Tupelo in 1987. The band got its name from two words that they picked randomly from a list they wrote. Wade Farrar left Uncle Tupelo that year to pursue his own interests, which included joining the army reserve. In the wake of Wade's departure, Tweedy began playing electric guitar and Jay Farrar became the lead singer. The band recorded a few demo tapes, attracting the attention Giant Records, who signed the band in 1989. Uncle Tupelo's first album, No Depression, was released the next year. The title song, a Carter Family song, became associated with the resurgence of Gram Parsons-style Americana music, which became known as alternative country. After four albums with Uncle Tupelo, Farrar left and founded the harder rocking Son Volt and Tweedy picked up the pieces and remaining members of Uncle Tupelo to form Wilco.

Wilco (1995-today)

Tweedy is the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Wilco. Their first album, rooted firmly in the burgeoning Alt-Country category, was titled A.M.. Tweedy and Wilco began to explore new soundscapes and broke from the style of previous recordings on the seminal sprawling double album Being There in 1996. Wilco then released the more classicist pop-influenced Summerteeth in 1999.

After the band recorded Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and delivered it to their current label, Reprise Records, they were told that the album was not commercially viable, and that Reprise was considering releasing Wilco from their current contract. Rather than change the music, Wilco opted to be released from their contract with Reprise, and Reprise allowed Wilco to keep their master tapes, creating an incredibly envious position in rock music contracts today. Wilco rested for a while, and after some negotiations, a very enthusiastic Nonesuch Records offered them a contract, and a deal to release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in its recorded form. Interestingly, both Reprise and Nonesuch are owned by parent company Time Warner, and it has been said that Wilco performed the ultimate record industry coup–that of getting a company to pay for recording their record (through Reprise), then that company giving them the tapes and releasing them from their contract, only to later buy the record back (through Nonesuch) at nearly three times the price that they paid to record it. The critically-hailed album was finally released on Nonesuch Records in 2002. The process of recording Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the record industry backlash was portrayed in the 2002 documentary film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart directed by Sam Jones, which also saw the departure of longtime multi-instrumentalist and producer Jay Bennett.

Wilco released their fifth album A Ghost is Born in 2004 which won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album. The following year, the band released their first live album, a two-disc set entitled Kicking Television, recorded in their hometown of Chicago. Wilco's sixth studio album is scheduled to be released in Spring of 2007.

Solo performances

On October 24, 2006 Nonesuch Records released Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest, a performance DVD by Tweedy. The disc includes performances and conversations gathered over five nights on Tweedy’s February 2006 solo acoustic tour, with footage from concerts at Seattle’s Moore Theater, Portland’s Crystal Ballroom, Eugene’s McDonald Theater, Arcata’s Humboldt State University, and The Fillmore in San Francisco. The film was directed by Christoph Green and Fugazi’s Brendan Canty, the creators of the documentary series Burn to Shine.

Tweedy was once quoted after a solo performance saying that "Wilco is such a pain in the ass and is so hard to deal with, lately, that getting out here and being able to call all the shots is kind of a dream come true."

Other projects

Tweedy is a member of Golden Smog, an occasional musical collective whose shifting personnel also includes members of The Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, and The Replacements. He has also teamed up with Billy Bragg to set Woody Guthrie's lyrics to music on the albums Mermaid Avenue and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II.

Other interests and personal life

Tweedy released a book of poetry, Adult Head, in 2004. He also spent time in a rehabilitation facility for depression and an addiction to painkillers. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he called his time in rehab a "really beautiful experience."

Tweedy is married to Sue Miller, the former owner of the now-defunct Chicago club, Lounge Ax. They have two children together, Sam and Spencer Tweedy. Sam and Spencer, have followed in their father's footsteps, playing in their own band, The Blisters, who played alongside Wilco at Chicago's Lollapalooza 2006, in the Kidsapalooza tent.

See also

• The Autumn Defense
• Golden Smog
• Loose Fur
• The Minus 5
• Uncle Tupelo
• Wilco

References

External links

• New York Times biography
• Who Owns Culture? - Jeff Tweedy and Lawrence Lessig in conversation with Steven Johnson
• Press Conference with Jeff Tweedy on The BackStage Pass internet radio show
• Jeff Tweedy: Music is not a loaf of bread, it can't be "stolen"

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