By Michael Swanger

There’s a scene in the bonus documentary DVD “Shake It Off” from the deluxe edition of Wilco’s new “Sky Blue Sky” CD where frontman Jeff Tweedy flashes a self-satisfied smile after diffidently telling the viewer, “It’s just a record of songs by a band that feels really comfortable with the notion of sitting down and playing songs together with the idea that’s all it really needs to be right now.” It’s the kind of reticent utterance you might expect from an artist like Tweedy, whose rock band’s evolution onstage and off has been frequently scrutinized, over-analyzed and heaped upon with more psychobabble hyperbole during the last decade or so than perhaps any other band in popular music. You can’t blame him for feigning indifference to such things, though you suspect deep down he really cares.

A few years ago, Tweedy’s ambiguity would have been misconstrued as being perhaps mean-spirited or self-indulgent. Then again, most critics forget that before Tweedy and former bandmate Jay Farrar helped usher in the feel-good alt-country movement of the early ’90s with their groundbreaking band Uncle Tupelo, Tweedy revered, among others, stoic punk rockers like the Ramones and Television and reclusive author Thomas Pynchon. At least this time he was smiling, even if he was being intentionally pithy.

So it goes for Tweedy, who told Cityview last week in an exclusive interview that life at the age of 40 is better for him than it was during his 30s. A husband, a father of two pre-teens (including one who plays in the rock band The Blisters) and leader of one of the most creative rock groups of its generation, Tweedy seemingly has it all, though it has come at a price.

Over the years, he has suffered from depression and panic attacks. Four years ago, he checked himself into a Chicago rehabilitation facility for addiction to prescription painkillers.

“I’ve actually suffered for my art because I thought you shouldn’t suffer for your art. I’ve denied my every day human suffering, and I had the idea that that was somehow cliché (laughs), and in doing so, I think I prevented myself from getting a lot of help I could have used a number of years ago,” he said. “There’s a mythology as old as any art is that surrounds the idea of where it comes from and what kind of price you have to pay, and I don’t think it’s very healthy or beneficial for most people to subscribe to those myths.”

Dealing with inner demons is one thing, but dealing with the press is another, Tweedy said. Since forming Wilco in 1994 following the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, Tweedy has endured intense media scrutiny for his every move, including the number of lineup changes to Wilco, as discussed by every major music magazine, Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot’s 2004 book “Wilco: Learning How to Die,” and Sam Jones’ popular 2003 documentary “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.” The film chronicled the emotionally-charged environment behind the making of the band’s best selling record, 2002’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” and the subsequent departure of co-founding member Jay Bennett. Once the album was finished, the band’s record label, Reprise, dropped them, leaving Tweedy and company to seek another label, eventually landing with Nonesuch. Tweedy, however, said he is the better for having gone through the trials and tribulations.

“With Greg Kot it was a different situation — he was going to write that book whether or not we talked to him. And we had already talked to him a number of times before he decided to write the book, so for him to get a current view of the way we felt about things, it was appropriate to talk to him. But it was certainly nothing sanctioned by the band,” Tweedy said.

“Similarly with Sam Jones, he was a fan of the band, and he had some money saved up from being a celebrity A-list photographer, and he wanted to make the movie,” Tweedy said. “And we were the subject matter he chose, and I had no problem with being the subject of someone’s camera. In that respect, for both of those things, I don’t think it hurt the band in any way. They’ve certainly solidified some people’s opinions of what the band is in ways that are distorted, but ultimately I don’t think that really matters much in 100 years or even 10 years. I don’t think people care that much, so I don’t sweat it.”

Perhaps the most Tweedy sweats these days is when he is exercising. He quit smoking cigarettes almost three years ago, and he runs as much as his body permits following stress fractures in both his tibias.

“I think I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been,” he said. “I’ve only had one or two migraines the last couple years.”

Musically, Tweedy admits to being healthier and happier, too, and he credits the current and longest-running Wilco lineup for it [bassist and co-founding member John Stirratt, drummer Glenn Kotche, pianist Mikael Jorgensen, guitarist Nels Cline and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone]. Earlier this year, they affirmed their musical ownership of Wilco’s entire catalog during a series of five hometown concerts in Chicago.

“We haven’t made as many records, but we’ve played more shows and been more of a cohesive unit than any other lineup,” Tweedy said. “One of the main ideas of playing the catalog in Chicago was trying to assert that possession of the entire catalog and in most cases — nothing against the past lineups — I would argue that we can play any of the records’ material as good if not better than the way it was performed at that time. That was proven to be the case... at least for us it was a resounding triumph to tackle everything, and there weren’t many songs that we felt fell short of their potential. Granted, there are some songs in the catalog that I think don’t need to get played very often, if ever [laughs].”

At the risk of sounding clichéd, Tweedy said, he credits the lineup’s chemistry for its success. “I just think there’s an enormous amount of love and respect between all of us, and I think for the amount of time we’ve been together, we’ve worked very hard and been very supportive of each other, and I can’t imagine a more nurturing environment for any of us.”

Pundits, however, have had their share of opinions over the years about the changes to Wilco’s lineup, which has included former members drummer Ken Coomer (1994-2000), guitarist Brian Henneman (1994-95) and multi-instrumentalists Max Johnston (1994-96), Bob Egan (1995-98), Leroy Bach (2000-04) and Bennett (1995-2001). Tweedy, however, said the band’s offstage storyline doesn’t detract from the music.

“There are people who are concerned about those things, and that’s because most people aren’t very comfortable with change. That’s understandable. I’m no different. If there’s something I really care about and it changes, I’m going to have anxiety about it — even if it’s something like a rock band, which in the grand scheme of things is pretty inconsequential to your quality of life [laughs],” he said. “But people do care, and it means something to them, and I don’t have a problem with them voicing their concerns or expressing their disdain for the changes if they don’t appreciate them. I think people have stuck with the band over time because what the focus has been is trying to make music that we’re proud of and trying to make shows that are better than the last one and trying to make records that express exactly what we want to hear. I think we’ve been able to do that, and some people have stuck around.”

As the lineups have changed, so, too has the group’s sound, which started in the ashes of Uncle Tupelo’s alt-country and progressed to pop-rock. Critics have celebrated 2007’s “Sky Blue Sky,” which includes one of the band’s best songs, “Impossible Germany,” welcoming the band’s return to a more minimalist and accessible sound, reminiscent of “A.M.” or “Being There,” leaving behind the prog-rock self-indulgence of “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.” Last month, “Sky Blue Sky” was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Rock Album.” It marked the fourth time Wilco has been nominated for a Grammy and also the fourth category. Their 1998 “Mermaid Avenue” album with Billy Bragg, was nominated for “Best Contemporary Folk Recording” and 2004’s “A Ghost is Born” won for “Best Alternative Rock Album” and “Best Recording Package.”

In addition to impressing music industry insiders, Wilco has enjoyed some popular success, too. Its biggest selling album, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” has sold more than 600,000 copies in the United States — a respectable tally given the fact radio rarely embraces cutting edge rock music. Like other rock bands, Wilco has built a fan fallowing by touring ballrooms, theaters and arenas.

“Judging by ticket sales alone, I’d say we’re more popular than we’ve ever been as far as being able to go out to play bigger places and more consistently sell out places,” Tweedy said. “It seems to be some bizarre juggernaut. I don’t know if there’s any real parallel in terms of other bands that have had the same kind of career trajectory… I don’t know what that’s about other than we’ve worked at it. We’ve played a lot of shows every year, and I guess enough of them have been good enough to inspire people to come back.”

Maintaining a loyal fan base while exploring new musical territory with every new album can be difficult. But being an agent of change in a business model as staid as the music industry’s can be even more difficult, Tweedy said, which is why he doesn’t consider himself to be one of its card-carrying members.

“It’s more realistic to try to be a part of a long line of people that makes shit up, makes songs up, and tries to get other people to listen to them. I really don’t have an easy time looking at things outside of that. I have, I think, grown to be pretty astute and maybe even shrewd about the business side of things, but that’s a whole other topic — it doesn’t have anything to do with the music,” he said.

Part of Wilco’s shrewdness is its ability to give fans what they want. The group caters to every niche of its fan base including pressing 180-gram audiophile vinyl and permitting fans to tape their live shows. Often, it also streams concerts for free on its Web site [www.wilcoweb.com]. Their Internet savvy, Billboard magazine reported last year, grossed them nearly $8 million from 117 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore since 2000. Wilco even streams its new albums online months before their retail release. Sometimes that results in unscrupulous fans stealing MP3s and posting them online for free, but Tweedy said most fans don’t take without giving back.

“It’s pretty hippy dippy, but there’s a lot to be said about art being more accurately represented by a gift economy as compared to a plain consumer economy,” he said. “The idea for Wilco is ‘if people are listening to the music, you’re winning,’ and that’s the ultimate goal of putting stuff out there and putting your voice out there is to be heard. Beyond that you have to have a certain amount of faith that people will take care of you and do the right thing and show their appreciation in ways that is respectful and beneficial to both parties. But I don’t think you can exclude one or the other [band or fans] from the negotiation, and if you don’t develop any goodwill with the audience basically you’re excluding them from the reciprocity of music making.”

Fans will be glad to know that Wilco is filming its current tour with plans to someday release another live DVD. Tweedy also said he would consider allowing another filmmaker to document the band “if they had a valid approach to it.” In the last month or so, Wilco has also been in the writing stages of a new album. Tweedy said he knows he has a good song when he can’t get it out of his head, like those of his role models Brian Wilson, Robbie Robertson and Paul Westerberg.

“If you make a little tape of it and you drive around listening to it and the world starts to look a little different, I think you’re on the right path,” Tweedy said of the songwriting process. “And I also think a healthy dose of being a little uncomfortable with the sentiment is probably a sign there is something innately meaningful there.”

Speaking of discomfort, the writing process for Wilco’s next album has been slowed by the serious illness of the band’s engineer, T.J. Doherty. Tweedy said Doherty is recovering from a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) staph infection.

“We put off some recording we planned to do this winter to wait to get together with him,” Tweedy said. “He was in a coma and intensive care for two months, and he’s learning how to walk again. We’re grateful he made it because there were a lot of close calls and dire predictions about his likelihood of surviving.”

Moving the band forward as one big happy family hasn’t always been possible in the past, but it is now, said Tweedy, who also plays occasionally with his side project Loose Fur.

“I really am happy to see it [Wilco] continue to be something sustainable for ourselves and our families and sustainable emotionally. In other words, something I believe in and feel happy doing. I don’t see that ending in the near future.”

Regardless of the musical vehicle, Tweedy continues to roar down his own creative highway without regret. If there is one thing that he hopes fans take away from his music — if they’re willing to put in the time and listen and pay attention and think about it — it is how music feeds the soul day in and day out.

“I guess I could say I’m hopeful that people are comforted and consoled and feel ministered to in some way because I think that’s been the primary source of those types of feelings for me in my life has been from music and not from religion or any other types of spirituality,” Tweedy said. “I guess that’s how I relate to music. I would maybe have some feeling that would translate to how other people perceive my music.” CV

Wilco in concert

Where: Val Air Ballroom
When: Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
Opening act: John Doe
Price: $30 in advance through the box office
(223-6152) and Ticketmaster, or $34 day of show

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