text: wilco wilco is an american alternative rock band based in chicago , illinois . the band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group uncle tupelo following singer jay farrar 's departure . wilco 's lineup changed frequently during its first decade , with only singer jeff tweedy and bassist john stirratt remaining from the original incarnation . since early 2004 , the lineup has been unchanged , consisting of tweedy , stirratt , guitarist nels cline , multi - instrumentalist pat sansone , keyboard player mikael jorgensen , and drummer glenn kotche . wilco has released nine studio albums , a live double album , and four collaborations : three with billy bragg and one with the minus 5 . wilco 's music has been inspired by a wide variety of artists and styles , including bill fay , the beatles and television , and has in turn influenced music by a number of modern alternative rock acts . the band continued in the alternative country of uncle tupelo on its debut album a.m. ( 1995 ) , but has since introduced more experimental aspects to their music , including elements of alternative rock and classic pop . wilco 's musical style has evolved from a 1990s country rock sound to a current " eclectic indie rock collective that touches on many eras and genres . " wilco garnered media attention for their fourth album , yankee hotel foxtrot ( 2002 ) , and the controversy surrounding it . after the recording sessions were complete , reprise records rejected the album and dismissed wilco from the label . as part of a buy - out deal , reprise gave wilco the rights to the album for free . after streaming foxtrot on its website , wilco sold the album to nonesuch records in 2002 . both record labels are subsidiaries of warner music group , leading one critic to say the album showed " how screwed up the music business is in the early twenty - first century . " yankee hotel foxtrot is wilco 's most successful release to date , selling over 670 , 000 copies . wilco won two grammy awards for their fifth studio album , 2004 's a ghost is born , including best alternative music album . wilco 's released their ninth studio album , star wars , on july 16 , 2015 . on july 19 , 2016 wilco set the release date for their tenth studio album , schmilco , for september 9 , 2016 . history formation wilco was formed following the breakup of the influential alternative country music group uncle tupelo . singer jay farrar quit the band in 1994 because of a soured relationship with co - singer jeff tweedy . both tweedy and farrar sought to form bands immediately after the breakup . tweedy was able to keep the entire uncle tupelo lineup sans farrar , including bassist john stirratt , drummer ken coomer , and multi - instrumentalist max johnston . he even enlisted uncle tupelo guest guitarist brian henneman of the bottle rockets , who performed on many of the tracks for wilco 's debut album , a.m .. the band was tempted to keep the uncle tupelo name , but ultimately decided to rename the band . the group named itself " wilco " after the military and commercial aviation radio voice abbreviation for " will comply " , a choice which tweedy has called " fairly ironic for a rock band to name themselves . " a.m. and being there after collaborating with syd straw on a cover version of the ernest tubb song " the t.b. is whipping me " ( released in september 1994 on the red hot + country compilation produced by the red hot organization ) , wilco began recording tracks for a.m. , their first studio album , at easley studio in june 1994 . a demo tape from these recordings was sent to executives at reprise records , a subsidiary of warner brothers , and the label signed tweedy to a contract . although tweedy stated that he wanted a more collaborative project than uncle tupelo , only his name appeared on the reprise contract . tweedy requested songwriting submissions from other members , but only one submission — john stirratt 's " it 's just that simple " — appeared on a.m .. it was the last song wilco ever released that was lyrically solely written by a member besides tweedy . stylistically similar to uncle tupelo , the music on a.m. was considered to be straightforward alternative country rock in what tweedy later described as " trying to tread some water with a perceived audience . " a.m. peaked at number twenty - seven on the billboard heatseekers chart , considerably lower than the debut album of jay farrar 's new band , son volt . the album was met with modest reviews though it would rank thirty - fourth in the village voice 's 1995 pazz & jop critics poll . critically and commercially paling in comparison to the reception of son volt 's album , the wilco members perceived a.m. to be a failure . shortly after the release of the album , multi - instrumentalist jay bennett joined the band , providing the band with a keyboardist and another guitarist . wilco made its live debut on november 17 , 1994 to a capacity crowd at cicero 's basement bar in st. louis , missouri ( the band was billed for the occasion as " black shampoo " ) . during the two hundred - date tour supporting a.m. , tweedy began to write songs for a second album . the lyrical theme of the songs reflected a relationship between musical artist and a listener ; tweedy chose this topic because he sought to eschew the alternative country fan base . ken coomer elaborated : the whole no depression thing was funny to us because people seemed to forget that jeff was a bigger punk - rock fan than a country fan . it led to things like us all switching instruments on " misunderstood , " where i 'm playing guitar . a number of songs were recorded with this theme , including " sunken treasure " and " hotel arizona " , however , wilco also recorded a number of songs in the style of a.m. wilco named the album being there after a peter sellers film of the same name . the band went through some personnel changes during the recording sessions . max johnston left the band because he felt that his role in the band had diminished in favor of bennett ; he had also been replaced by violinist jesse greene on one track because the band felt that johnston was unable to play the part . bob egan of freakwater briefly joined the band in the studio , playing pedal steel guitar on " far , far away " and " dreamer in my dreams " , and then became an official member in september 1996 . unlike the a.m. recording sessions , the band had no vocation for producing a hit song from their second effort . the recording sessions produced nineteen songs , too many for a single album release . tweedy was concerned about the high retail price that a double album would be sold for ( at least $ 30 ) , so he asked reprise records to release it as a double album at a single album price ( $ 17 . 98 or less ) . reprise agreed to this on the terms that they received wilco 's share of the album royalties . it was estimated in 2003 that the band lost almost $ 600 , 000 on the deal , but tweedy was satisfied . being there was well received by critics from several major media outlets , including rolling stone . the album reached no. 73 on the billboard album charts , a significant improvement from a.m. , and placed fourteenth on the pazz & jop critics poll for 1996 . the album 's single " outtasite ( outta mind ) " became the group 's first song to enter the billboard charts , reaching no. 39 on the modern rock tracks chart and no. 22 on the mainstream rock tracks chart . summerteeth and the mermaid avenue sessions in november 1997 , wilco entered willie nelson 's recording studio in spicewood , texas to record a third studio album . the album was lyrically inspired by the marital problems of tweedy and his wife , as well as by twentieth - century literature . tweedy relied heavily on bennett to provide music for the singer 's " bold , but depressing " lyrics . wilco recorded several songs , including " via chicago " and " she 's a jar , " but began working on another project before assembling the tracks into an album . nora guthrie contacted singer - songwriter billy bragg in spring 1995 about recording some unreleased songs by her father , folk singer woody guthrie . most of the songs were written late in guthrie 's life when he was unable to record due to the motor impairments of huntington 's disease . by the 1990s , woody guthrie had become a " relic " to the mtv generation , and nora sought to establish a different legacy for the musician . to nora , bragg was " the only singer i knew taking on the same issues as woody . " bragg was concerned , however , that his fans would not realize that the songs were written by guthrie when he performed them on tour , so he decided to record the album with another band . bragg contacted tweedy and bennett about co - recording the album while wilco was on the european segment of their being there tour . bragg was particularly fond of being there because their influences extended farther back than the 1950s . although tweedy was indifferent to the offer , bennett was enthused about recording songs of one of his idols — bennett 's previous band titanic love affair was named after a billy bragg lyric . a recording contract between bragg and wilco was signed after a show at shepherd 's bush empire . bragg mostly recorded the politically charged lyrics , while tweedy preferred to record lyrics that showcased guthrie as a " freak weirdo " . the recording of mermaid avenue began on december 12 , 1997 , and was the topic of bbc 's man in the sand documentary film . tempers flared between bragg and wilco after the album was completed . bennett believed that bragg was overproducing his songs , a sharp contrast to wilco 's sparser contributions . bennett called bragg about the possibility of remixing bragg 's songs , to which bragg responded " you make your record , and i 'll make mine , fucker . " eventually bragg sent copies of his recordings to chicago for bennett to remix , but bragg refused to use the new mixes on the album . the two parties were unable to establish a promotional tour and quarreled over royalties and guest musician fees . despite these conflicts , the album was released on june 23 , 1998 , and sold over 277 , 000 copies . the album received rave reviews from robert christgau and rolling stone , and was nominated for a grammy award for best contemporary folk album . it also placed fourth on the pazz & jop critics poll for 1998 . after the album was released , bob egan was replaced by multi - instrumentalist leroy bach . after the completion of the mermaid avenue sessions , wilco returned to spicewood to complete their third studio album , summerteeth . unlike previous wilco and uncle tupelo recordings , the album featured a lot of overdubbing with pro tools . stirratt and coomer were concerned with the production , since it reduced their involvement in the music . according to stirratt : the story of summerteeth is jay bought a mellotron and he was going to use it , no matter what . it was lovely , but it was overdone . once they got going on the overdubs , they didn 't stop . and nobody in the band stepped up to stop the madness ... it reminds me of heart of darkness , where you knowingly extend the creative process for the purpose of exploration or redemption , or whatever it is you 're looking for . during 1999 , warner brothers was looking to help repay a $ 16 billion debt acquired during the recent merger of parent company warner communications with time inc .. as a result , warner 's imprints were under pressure to produce musical acts that would yield hit records . the head of reprise , howie klein , who had previously authorized the release of being there as a double album , was willing to let wilco produce summerteeth without label input . when klein played the album for reprise 's a & r department , however , they demanded a radio single for the album . wilco agreed to do this " once and once only " and recorded a radio - friendly version of " can 't stand it " at the request of david kahne , the head of the a & r department . the single version of " can 't stand it " failed to cross over from triple - a radio to alternative rock stations . consequently , the album sold only 200 , 000 copies , significantly less than being there . this was despite critical acclaim ; the album placed eighth on the pazz & jop critics ' poll for 1999 . after the release of summerteeth , the band resumed the mermaid avenue sessions . although they had recorded enough material for a second release in 1998 , wilco recorded a few new songs for mermaid avenue vol . ii . " someday some morning sometime , " featuring a vibraphone filtered through a space echo , was identified by tweedy as being the " piece to the puzzle " towards the creation of their fourth studio album . the album was released on may 30 , 2000 , and was the last release from the sessions . the remainder of the sessions were released in 2012 as mermaid avenue vol . iii , also part of mermaid avenue : the complete sessions . yankee hotel foxtrot shortly after the recording sessions for mermaid avenue vol . ii , wilco purchased a studio on irving park road in chicago , which they named the wilco loft . the band recorded some tracks in the studio in early 2000 for a fourth studio album . in may 2000 , jeff tweedy requested to perform with jim o 'rourke at a festival in chicago ; tweedy was a fan of o 'rourke 's bad timing . o 'rourke introduced tweedy to drummer glenn kotche , and the trio enjoyed working together so much that they decided to record an album as a side project named loose fur . wilco had recorded an entire album of music at this point , but tweedy was unhappy with the drum parts . he enjoyed kotche 's contributions to loose fur so much that tweedy brought him into the studio to re - record some demos . some believe that tweedy sought to make wilco sound like loose fur after officially replacing ken coomer with kotche in january 2001 . although bennett sought to act as both mixer and engineer for yankee hotel foxtrot , tweedy was unsure of bennett 's abilities against those of o 'rourke . tweedy and bennett frequently argued over whether the album should be accessible to a general listener , or attempt to cover new musical ground . unbeknownst to bennett , tweedy invited o 'rourke to remix " i am trying to break your heart " , and the results impressed the other band members — even bennett . tensions grew between bennett and o 'rourke because bennett wanted to mix every song on the album . o 'rourke cut the contributions of other members on several of the songs ; some songs , such as " poor places " , only featured the loose fur trio . the album was completed in 2001 , and bennett was dismissed from the band immediately afterwards . the recording of the album was documented by sam jones and released in 2002 as the film i am trying to break your heart : a film about wilco . time warner , which owned warner bros. records , merged with america online in 2001 , leading to more pressure on warner 's record labels to cut costs . over 600 employees of warner music group were fired , including howie klein , the president of reprise records . in absence of klein , david kahne became the interim head of reprise . kahne assigned mio to monitor the progress of yankee hotel foxtrot and to offer suggestions . music journalist greg kot claims that disdained the album and was unhappy that wilco ignored his suggestions . he brought the album to kahne , who felt that there was no single on the album . in june 2001 , the album was rejected by reprise and wilco was asked to leave the label . wilco managed to negotiate terms to a buy - out from reprise . music journalist greg kot claims that instead of financial compensation , the band agreed to leave the label with the master tapes of yankee hotel foxtrot . the label was already receiving bad publicity for its treatment of the band and were willing to accommodate wilco 's request . however , allmusic claims that wilco " bought the finished studio tapes from warner / reprise for a reported $ 50 , 000 and left the label altogether " after wilco was " [ u ] to change the album to make it more ' commercially viable ' " to curb the negative publicity , reprise began to invest more in bands such as the flaming lips . lead singer wayne coyne once remarked : we are benefiting from the label 's regret over wilco . we are living in the golden age of that being such a public mistake . the people on warners said , " we 'll never have a band like wilco feel we don 't believe in them again . " they 'd tell me that it would never happen to us . and what a great day for me ! as the band searched for a new label to release the album , they decided to stream it at their official website to discourage illegal trading of low - quality mp3s . the band signed with nonesuch records , another time warner subsidiary , and the album was released in the spring of 2002 . when it was released , yankee hotel foxtrot reached number thirteen on the billboard 200 , wilco 's highest chart position to that date . yankee hotel foxtrot sold over 590 , 000 copies , and to date remains wilco 's best selling album . yankee hotel foxtrot was met with wide critical acclaim : it topped 2002 's pazz & jop critics ' poll , was named one of the 100 greatest albums of all time by q magazine . rolling stone rated it one of the top 500 albums of all time in may 2012 . down with wilco , a ghost is born , and kicking television : live in chicago while waiting for the commercial release of yankee hotel foxtrot , wilco agreed to support r.e.m. collaborator scott mccaughey for an album release by the minus 5 . they scheduled a recording session for september 11 , 2001 , but were distraught about the 9 / 11 terrorist attacks that day . later that day , wilco and mccaughey agreed to " create something good in the world right now " and record some material . influenced by bill fay 's time of the last persecution , the minus 5 's down with wilco was released in 2003 . keyboardist mikael jorgensen , who had engineered down with wilco , joined wilco in 2002 as they toured in support of yankee hotel foxtrot . in november 2003 , wilco traveled to new york city to record their fifth album . the album was produced by jim o 'rourke , who mixed foxtrot and was a member of wilco side project loose fur . unlike summerteeth and yankee hotel foxtrot , a ghost is born featured songs that were created with pro tools before ever performing them live . the album featured the song " less than you think " , which included a fifteen - minute track of electronic noises and synthesizers , which tweedy called " the track that everyone will hate " . tweedy justified the inclusion of the song : i know ninety - nine percent of our fans won 't like that song , they 'll say it 's a ridiculous indulgence . even i don 't want to listen to it every time i play through the album . but the times i do calm myself down and pay attention to it , i think it 's valuable and moving and cathartic . i wouldn 't have put it on the record if i didn 't think it was great ... i wanted to make an album about identity , and within that is the idea of a higher power , the idea of randomness , and that anything can happen , and that we can 't control it . leroy bach left the band immediately after the album 's completion to join a music theatre operation in chicago . like yankee hotel foxtrot , wilco streamed the album online before its commercial release . instead of using their own web page , the band streamed it in mpeg - 4 form on apple 's website . wilco sought to substantially change their lineup after bach 's departure , and added pat sansone of the autumn defense , and avant - garde guitarist nels cline to the lineup . just as the band was about to tour to promote the album , tweedy checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic in chicago for an addiction to opioids . as a result , tour plans for europe were canceled , and the release date for the album was set back several weeks . a ghost is born was released on june 22 , 2004 , and became wilco 's first top ten album in the u.s. the album earned wilco grammy awards for best alternative music album and best recording package in 2005 . it also placed thirteenth on 2004 's pazz & jop critics poll . in 2004 , the band released the wilco book , a picture book detailing the creation of a ghost is born . the book also contains writings and drawings from band members , as well as a cd with demos from the a ghost is born recording sessions . also that year , chicago tribune music critic greg kot released a biography of the band entitled wilco : learning how to die . the new six - piece wilco lineup debuted on kicking television : live in chicago , a two disc live album recorded at the vic theater in chicago . released on november 15 , 2005 , the album received high accolades from spin , billboard , and entertainment weekly . as of 2007 , it has sold over 114 , 000 copies . sky blue sky wilco returned to their loft in chicago to record a sixth studio album in 2006 . influenced by the byrds and fairport convention , the band considered sky blue sky to be less experimental than previous releases . also unlike previous albums , the songs were created as collaborations . wilco streamed the album online on march 3 , 2007 , and offered the song " what light " as a free mp3 download . to further publicize the album , wilco licensed several songs from the sky blue sky recording sessions for use in a volkswagen advertising campaign . the move was criticized by both critics and fans ; wilco responded by noting that they had previously done advertising campaigns with apple inc. and telefónica ( movistar ) . the album was released on may 15 , 2007 , and was a commercial success : it sold over 87 , 000 copies in its first week and peaked in the top five in the u.s. album charts . it also was a top forty hit in seven other countries . reviewer james brubaker states that wilco " shine [ s ] on a handful of the songs " on sky blue sky , such as the " light , and straightforward " songs . while he calls the album " great traditional rock and folk album at times " , he states that " once you get past the handful of masterful and lovely performances ... the rest of the record comes off at times as dull , and forced . " the review also had mixed comments . while praising the album as " deceptively insinuating , almost intoxicating to listen to " and noting its " impeccable sound quality , " the reviewer claimed that " sky blue sky becomes the first wilco album that sounds too careful for its own good . " hernandez , a reviewer for lost at sea praised the album 's " breezy atmosphere and pacing , " and noted that it is not " easily judged upon first listen . " overall , hernandez stated that it " may be no masterpiece , but at worst it 's a more than worthy entry into wilco 's laudable catalogue . " reviewer greg locke praised the record as " one of the best albums of the year , " calling it a " timeless record , full of sweet , hopeful sophistication and class " and " a lean , mean , soulful album . " like hernandez , locke acknowledged that the album could not be properly judged just on the first listening . the npr review also had a positive take on the record . while the npr reviewer stated that the recording " isn 't groundbreaking , " they praised its " coherent musical expression " and emphasis on " solid songcraft without pretense " which created a " satisfying and melodically sound album . " in anticipation of the 2008 us presidential election , wilco released a downloadable version of bob dylan 's " i shall be released " that they performed with fleet foxes . the mp3 was available as a free download from the band 's website in exchange for a promise to vote in the election . the band also made an appearance on the colbert report to support presidential candidate barack obama . wilco released a live performance dvd , ashes of american flags , on april 18 , 2009 , to celebrate record store day . in december 2008 , jeff tweedy , pat sansone , glenn kotche and john stirratt traveled to auckland , new zealand to participate in neil finn 's 7 worlds collide sequel project , the sun came out , joined by ed o 'brien , phil selway , johnny marr , kt tunstall , liam finn , and lisa germano . they wrote and recorded several new tracks for the oxfam - benefiting album including " you never know " , " what could have been " , " over and done " and " don 't forget me " . jeff tweedy co - wrote " too blue " with johnny marr , and glenn , john and pat play on most tracks on the album . having enjoyed their time in new zealand and the vibe of finn 's own roundhead studios , the four members stayed in auckland through january to record the foundation tracks for their next album . jim scott , who acted as engineer and mixer for the neil finn project , stayed on in the same capacity for the wilco sessions . nels cline and mikael jorgensen would later add overdubs to these tracks at the band 's chicago loft . wilco ( the album ) wilco released their seventh album , wilco ( the album ) , on june 30 , 2009 . in march 2009 , it was announced that singer - songwriter feist would make a guest appearance on the new album , on the track " you and i " . like their previous three albums , wilco streamed the entirety of the album on its website prior to release . the album hit the charts at a career - high no. 4 with sales of 99 , 000 on the billboard top 200 album chart as well as the no. 2 spot on billboard 's top rock albums chart . it marked wilco 's third top 10 album on the u.s. pop chart . the album 's first single " you never know " reached the no. 1 spot on the aaa chart , their first no. 1 in twelve years . beginning in april 2009 , the band freely distributed a cover of woody guthrie 's " the jolly banker " , downloadable from their website . it was recorded at the wilco loft in february of that year , at the suggestion of guthrie 's daughter , nora . were encouraged to donate to the woody guthrie foundation . feist returned to accompany on the track , playing the garden weasel . the track eventually became unavailable for download . in october 2011 , the website began streaming the track via a plugin . on may 25 , 2009 , former band member jay bennett died in his home in urbana , illinois . in a prepared statement , jeff tweedy remarked that he was " deeply saddened " by bennett 's death . feist and wilco performed " you and i " on late show with david letterman on july 14 , 2009 . in june during their west coast tour , wilco joined beck , feist , jamie lidell and james gadson in the studio to take part in beck 's record club project , covering skip spence 's oar album . the first song " little hands " was posted on beck 's website on november 12 , 2009 . on april 6 , 2010 , wilco announced during their boston performance that they would be headlining and curating a festival in north adams , massachusetts , dubbed solid sound festival . the event ran at the massachusetts museum of contemporary art from august 13 – 15 , and featured various wilco side projects , including the autumn defense , pronto , the nels cline singers , and jeff tweedy solo . other bands who appeared included mavis staples , avi buffalo , outrageous cherry , richard bishop , the books , and . it also featured non - musical media , such as the bread and puppet theater and comedians todd barry , kristen schaal , john mulaney , and hannibal buress as well as interactive musical installations by cline and kotche . wilco 's contract with nonesuch ended in 2010 and they formed their own label . wilco announced via their web site and twitter page on january 27 , 2011 that the new label will be called records ( per minute ) and will be run out of the offices of their manager , tony margherita , in easthampton , massachusetts . the whole love wilco 's eighth studio album , the whole love , was released on september 27 , 2011 . the first single of the album is titled " art of almost " . the b - side to " i might " is a cover of nick lowe 's 1977 song " i love my label " . the single was shown at the wilco 's 2011 solid sound festival at and was met by positive reviews . the entire album was streamed live on wilco 's official website for 24 hours between september 3 and 4 , 2011 . star wars and schmilco wilco 's ninth studio album , star wars , was released on july 16 , 2015 , as a surprise free download . in october 2015 , wilco announced that they would embark on a us tour beginning in early 2016 in support of the album . in december 2015 , star wars was nominated for the grammy award for best alternative music album . on july 14 , 2016 , the band released a new single , titled " " , as a free download . four days later , the band released another new single , titled " if i ever was a child " , and announced that their tenth album , schmilco , would be released on september 9 . musical style and influence wilco 's music is typically categorized as alternative rock and alternative country . despite their career - long association with a major record label , they are generally associated with indie rock . wilco draws influence from bands from a variety of musical genres , but primarily from music created between 1966 and 1974 . john cale 's paris 1919 was credited by the band as providing a musical parallel . according to tweedy , " it was eye - opening that i wasn 't the only person that felt like these worlds had a lot more in common than they 'd been given credit for — that experimentation and avant - garde theory was not directly opposed to beauty , y 'know ? " other recording artists from that timespan appreciated by the band include john lennon , neil young , and brian wilson . for his thirty - fourth birthday , tweedy received a private guitar lesson from richard lloyd of television ; tweedy was a fan of the group and was particularly fond of the guitar work , which he wanted to incorporate into his music . uncle tupelo was inspired by bands such as jason & the scorchers and the minutemen , influencing the recording of wilco 's a.m .. tweedy and o 'rourke enjoyed free jazz artists such as ornette coleman , albert ayler , and derek bailey ; they also listen to mainstream jazz by artists such as miles davis and john coltrane . the lyrical structure of wilco 's songs was dictated by classic literature and cadavre — an exercise where band members take turns writing lines on a typewriter , but are only allowed to see the previously written line . among the books that the band has cited as being stylistically influential include william h. gass 's in the heart of the heart of the country , henry miller 's tropic of cancer , and harold bloom 's the anxiety of influence : a theory of poetry . some critics have dubbed wilco the " american radiohead " , due to their stylistically diverse catalog . a critic from the new york times argues that wilco has a " roots - rock ... [ sound which ] reached back to proven materials : the twang of country , the steady chug of 1960s rock , the undulating sheen of the beach boys , the honky - tonk hymns of the band and the melodic symmetries of pop . " rolling stone described wilco as " one of america 's most consistently interesting bands " and " america 's foremost rock impressionists . " bands that have been influenced by wilco include derek webb ( of caedmon 's call ) , the national , and grace potter and the . english indie rock band cherry ghost took its name from a lyric from the wilco song " theologians " ( from a ghost is born ) — lead singer simon aldred is a self - proclaimed " massive wilco fan " . other notable artists who have covered wilco live include norah jones performing " jesus , etc . " which took place at the 2008 bridge school benefit where they both performed , a version of which was released as a bonus track on her 2009 release the fall , widespread panic , and counting crows and the wallflowers performing " california stars . " band members current members jeff tweedy - lead vocals , rhythm , acoustic and lead guitars , bass , harmonica ( 1994 – present ) john stirratt - bass , backing vocals ( 1994 – present ) glenn kotche - drums , percussion ( 2000 – present ) mikael jorgensen - samples and sound manipulation ( 2002 – 2004 ) , keyboards , synthesizers , effects , piano , organ ( 2004 – present ) nels cline - lead guitar , loops , lap steel ( 2004 – present ) pat sansone - keyboards , rhythm and lead guitars , backing vocals , synthesizers , maracas , tambourine ( 2004 – present ) former members ken coomer - drums , percussion ( 1994 – 2000 ) max johnston - dobro , fiddle , banjo , mandolin , backing vocals ( 1994 – 1996 ) brian henneman - lead guitar ( 1994 – 1995 ) jay bennett - rhythm and lead guitars , keyboards , backing vocals ( 1995 – 2001 ) bob egan - pedal steel , slide guitar ( 1995 – 1998 ) leroy bach - rhythm guitar , keyboards , backing vocals ( 1998 – 2004 ) timeline discography a.m. ( 1995 ) being there ( 1996 ) summerteeth ( 1999 ) yankee hotel foxtrot ( 2001 ) a ghost is born ( 2004 ) sky blue sky ( 2007 ) wilco ( the album ) ( 2009 ) the whole love ( 2011 ) star wars ( 2015 ) schmilco ( 2016 ) collaborations with billy bragg mermaid avenue ( 1998 ) mermaid avenue vol . ii ( 2000 ) mermaid avenue : the complete sessions ( 2012 ) awards and nominations grammy awards shortlist music prizes wired rave awards