This article is about the music group; for other uses, see Wilco (disambiguation).
Wilco is an American contemporary rock band. While originally known for its Alt-country roots, it's now mostly known for its rock or alternative rock style.
Primary songwriter/ singer Jeff Tweedy was a member of the seminal 1980s and 1990s Alt. Country group Uncle Tupelo. Tweedy shared songwriting and singing duties with bandmate Jay Farrar, who later formed Son Volt. Tweedy formed Wilco with Uncle Tupelo drummer Ken Coomer and session musicians featured on the last Uncle Tupelo recording " Anodyne" ( bassist John Stirratt, and string player Max Johnston).
Wilco has steadily gained popularity since its first release A.M. in 1995, the only one of the band's albums that resembles the former Uncle Tupelo sound. Produced by Brian Paulson and lead guitar work done by Bottle Rockets' frontman Brian Henneman, A.M. reached #27 on the Billboard heatseeker chart; it would later place 34th on the Village Voice's Jazz & Pop Critics Poll for 1995.
Multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett later joined the band, expanding their already rich sound, adding more electronic/ keyboard music, as well as the strength of a second guitar.
"Initially, it was just as lead guitar player," recalls Bennett, "I don't think I even mentioned that I played piano at all...I was a little intimidated by these guys at first...They had already had a sound that people really liked. But they also wanted to make pop records - A.M. was supposed to be a pop record, but it didn't really come across...When we did the second album [ Being There], I began to suggest parts on keyboards that weren't part of the song as originally written [on guitars and drums]. And once that happened, the door was just kicked open to another way of making a record."