Pitchfork: Leroy Bach Out Of Wilco; Bennett Preps Retaliatory Solo Albums; Tweedy Writes Poems About It

Leroy Bach Out Of Wilco; Bennett Preps Retaliatory Solo Albums; Tweedy Writes Poems About It
Jefferson Amadeus Mozart, T-Bone von Beethoven waiting in wings

[Updated Thursday, January 29th, 2004 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Cory D. Byrom, Jeremy C. Baron, and Will Bryant report:
As Wilco puts the finishing touches on the follow up to their critical slam-dunk Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, multi-instrumentalist (which I think is code for 'keyboard player') Leroy Bach is moving on to greener pastures. Bach popped up in the liner notes of 1999's Summerteeth as playing the piano, and played various instruments on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot., as well as rounding out Wilco's live incarnation on both keys and guitar for the past five years.

According to the band's official site, Bach "has decided to leave this band. We'll all miss him and of course wish him the best in what comes next." We're not sure exactly what that is, but he sure kept busy during his time with the band and before it-- playing on albums by Liz Phair (not that album), the Sun, Euphone, and the funk/fusion group 5ive Style, of which he was a member.

Bach was originally brought on board around the time steel guitarist Bob Egan left the lineup, and ended up filling the boots of fellow multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett after he was ejected from the band sans cheery website well-wishes and pretty much right in front of documentarian Sam Jones' camera. For both the recording of the new album and in live shows, Mikael Jorgensen (Califone, Rebecca Gates) has become an increasingly visable presence in Wilco, playing keyboards and laptop.

In the meantime, Jay Bennett has not exactly been a hermit following his cinematic ouster from Wilco, with plans to release three (!) solo albums via Undertow Music in April, July, and October of this year (there are clips of new songs "Charming & Plastic" and "My Little Wicked One" up at Bennett's official website). Yeah, he still kind of sounds like that Crash Test Dummies guy doing an Elvis Costello impression when he sings. The first record in the trilogy, as of yet untitled, lands April 6th.

All of this no doubt has you wondering aloud if Jeff Tweedy has some kind of issue with keyboard players (and, well, steel guitar players, and drummers, and if you want to bring Uncle Tupelo into it, other band members in general). Perhaps the answers can be found in Tweedy's upcoming tome of poetry, entitled Adult Head. Yeah, I know. Poetry. "Well," some of you may be thinking, "Wilco's lyrics are actually pretty good. 'I am an American aquarium drinker' is a pretty solid line, right?"

Tweedy's publisher, Zoo Press, has shared two sample poems on their website: "Way of Light" and "Yachting?" See, the question mark in "Yachting?" is all poignant and stuff. "I imagine it/ a passionate bath/ with an older brother/ gentle then turning/ competitive/ as he studies/ for the bar." Now that's just brimming with repressed homosexual tension, or something. These poems are so good, in fact, that Zoo Press calls Tweedy's work "some of the best poetry in America today." The book will be published in March 2004, the first in a series of books dubbed Nightingale Edtions. Yup. Okay, I'm done here.