On June 28th, Wilco will return to the rolling hills of North Adams, Massachusetts, to kick off the sixth installment of their Solid Sound Festival. For Wilco and their fans, it will be more than just a weekend of great music: This year, Solid Sound doubles as a welcome-back party celebrating the official end of Wilcos year-plus hiatus.
Were as excited as weve ever been, says frontman Jeff Tweedy, calling from the Loft, the bands Chicago recording studio. Maybe a little bit more, because its coinciding with the end of a pretty long stretch where we havent seen each other a whole lot. Im expecting it to have the feel almost of a reunion, but for a band that never broke up.
Wilco took 2018 off in part so that drummer Glenn Kotche could relocate to Helsinki with his wife, Miiri, who won a Fulbright scholarship to study medical device design. In the meantime, Tweedy wrote an excellent, revealing memoir, Lets Go (So We Can Get Back); recorded two folk-rock albums, Warm and Warmer; and toured the world as a solo act. I mean, I have a good time playing by myself, just like everybody else in the band does, he says. But Ive definitely missed the sound of those six people onstage. Its like getting to hang out with my closest friends again.
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As always at Solid Sound, the starring attraction will be two headlining sets from Wilco. Tweedy mentions something kind of fun for the first night that Im not ready to talk about yet, then drops an even more tantalizing hint: The second show, I think, maybe well try and showcase a new song or two.
Any new songs heard at Solid Sound, of course, will raise hopes for a fresh Wilco album, which would be the bands first since 2016s laid-back Schmilco. Weve been getting together to do some studio recording, Tweedy says coyly. Youll be hearing about that pretty soon.
He adds that the band had some fruitful sessions at the Loft this past winter: At this point its like the way you feel when you get to be around family you havent seen in a long time. It almost takes no time to feel that same connection.
The lineup for this years Solid Sound features a typically tasty assortment of folk, rock, jazz, rap and noise acts, including Courtney Barnett, the Feelies (one of Tweedys favorite bands when he was growing up outside St. Louis), Tortoise, Cate Le Bon, Clipping., Jonathan Richman and more, plus comedians like John Hodgman and Aparna Nancherla. The weekend will also feature performances from a slew of Wilco side projects such as bassist John Stirratt and guitarist Pat Sansones the Autumn Defense; multi-instrumentalist Mikael Jorgensens Quindar; and Cup, a duo formed by Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and his wife, Cibo Mattos Yuka C. Honda. (Sadly, a planned modern dance performance by Jon Hamm, Kotche, and choreographer Danielle Agami had to be cancelled due to a conflict in Hamms schedule.) Taken together, Tweedy says the lineup offers an opportunity to present a more full-frequency depiction of the band, more so than any individual record or any individual show.
Nine years after the first Solid Sound, Wilcos model of a smaller music festival tailored to the bands and its fans eclectic interests has proved increasingly popular. Im glad to see people are doing these types of festivals, Tweedy says. I think theyre way more musical, I think theyre way more humane, and theyre way less corporate.
Looking ahead, Tweedy sounds excited about the future of Wilco. I think [the hiatus] revitalized everyones energy for the band, and our interest in pushing forward and not just resting on some past output. Everybody in the band is pretty ambitious. Its good to let go of something thats a huge, identifying part of your life, and realize that you still have deep affection for it and a deep interest in having it be a living, breathing entity capable of surprising you.