Last month, Jeff Tweedy took a break from The Wilco Loft, where he’s been finishing up the next Mavis Staples record, to do an interview nearby at the Hideout in Chicago. His 20-minute chat with The Interview Show host Mark Bazer is worth the price of admission alone, but stick around (or skip ahead to the 20:50 mark) for our first glimpse at what we can expect from said Staples LP. Tweedy performs a 1920s gospel tune by Washington Phillips, one of the forthcoming album’s non-original cuts called “What Are They Doing in Heaven Today.”
Speaking of Wilco’s famed Chicago studio, Tweedy announced today that he’s auctioning off an 8-hour recording session at the Loft for charity. “Your session will be tracked by a staff engineer and overseen by Jeff Tweedy who will also help you produce and arrange your song… and maybe even play on it if you need him to,” reads the official listing. “You will leave with a CD of a finished mix.” The auction is set to end on March 12th, two weeks before Wilco head to Australia and beyond for a string of April tour dates.