WILCO RIDES AGAIN

Wilco, and the amazing suits


You Are My Face

Wilco showed up on Conan decked out in old Nashville style, looking like they had hijacked the Burrito Brothers' tour bus and stolen their Nudie suits...but where was Gram Parsons' peyote-and-pills ensemble? Don't tell me, probably behind glass somewhere. Weep not, for Gram, that grievous angel still watches over drunks and country bands smiling and peeing from a great height.

Gram Parson's cosmic cowboy duds behind glass

Gram did everything to excess and serves as a warning to all about overdoing the booze and the dope, but he sure wore a snazzy suit. Check it out. Handcrafted by Nudie himself, the tailor to all the great country stars from Elvis on up, but unlike the suit Nudie made for Porter Wagner this one carries marijuana leaves, pills, and peyote buttons. Gram never met a drug he didn't like, and now he's dead. End of lesson. The story goes Gram turned Keith Richards on to open E tuning and country music, and Richards turned Gram on to heroin. Not a fair trade.

Jeff Tweedy in a very cool suit. Is that Hello, Kitty?

Wilco carries that old time Americana spirit, and this is gentle late night whiskey drinking music. Ever since Uncle Tupelo, the prototypical alt.country band, broke into pieces, we followed Jeff Tweedy into Wilcoville. They can play straight country, or bring out some weird dissonant music that's as edgy as any dissonant electro, sometimes in the same song. They have a new album called, creatively enough, "Wilco, the Album." Go get it today. And if you see Jeff, could you tell him to hook me up with a suit?


One Wing, a new song