Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy will embark on a solo tour this summer before releasing his new book, World Within a Song. Le Ren will open many of the dates, according to his announcement on Twitter. The solo dates start next month, following the end of Wilco’s current tour, which runs through the end of April.
Tweedy previewed what his solo shows could look like last month during an acoustic set at South by Southwest, where he headlined Audible’s Sound Studio Weekend. Tweedy recently was the subject of one of the streaming platform’s Words + Music series. At the event, he told the stories behind some of his songs. “I’m not gonna play one song about my dead father — I’m going to play three,” he quipped before performing “Don’t Forget.” Rolling Stone reported, “Fans smiled, sung along, and relished the opportunity to hear one of the greats tell his stories in such an intimate and unique SXSW setting.” He also played some of the songs featured in his Words + Music episode, including Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.”
Tweedy’s book, World Within a Song, finds the artist writing about 50 songs that have inspired him throughout his life. Some artists he wrote about include the Replacements, Mavis Staples, the Velvet Underground, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Dolly Parton, and Billie Eilish. The book is due in November.
“I want to talk about songs that gave me permission to be creative…to be myself,” Tweedy said in a statement. “To say something that was hard to say. I’ll be telling stories from my life, focusing on a true-to-memory style of how it really felt to me, how I experienced things emotionally. And then I want to talk about music in the same way. I want to talk about music in a way that it rarely gets talked about. I want to talk about the world within the song.” One song by an artist who inspired him that he recently covered is “Union Maid” by Woody Guthrie.
Jeff Tweedy tour dates:
May 19 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
May 20 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
June 21 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made *
June 23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made *
June 24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made *
June 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made *
June 28 – Washington, D.C. @ The Atlantis *
July 18 – St. Louis, MO @ The Sheldon Concert Hall *
July 19 – Salina, KS @ Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts *
July 21 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theatre *
July 22 – Beaver Creek, CO @ Vilar Performing Arts Center *
July 23 – Grand Junction, CO @ Avalon Theatre *
July 25 – Boise, ID @ Egyptian Theatre *
July 26 – Sandpoint, ID @ Panida Theater *
July 28 – Carnation, WA @ Timber! Festival
July 29 – Vernon, British Columbia @ Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre
* with Le Ren
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