Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo were the architects of alt-country, a genre that combined punk’s renegade sounds and attitude with the sturdy songcraft of classic country music. The band—vocalist/bassist Jeff Tweedy, vocalist/guitarist Jay Farrar and drummer Mike Heidorn—worked up originals like the folk-leaning “New Madrid” and the hard-charging “Gun”, pairing them live with covers of songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Bob Dylan. Uncle Tupelo initially coalesced in Belleville, Illinois, in 1987, evolving out of a ferocious garage-rock act called The Primatives. The band honed their live act playing shows in Missouri and Illinois before their Not Forever, Just for Now demo tape led to a record deal and their 1990 debut, No Depression. After a second studio effort and a live album produced by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Uncle Tupelo experienced several lineup changes—Heidorn and eventual Bottle Rockets frontman Brian Henneman left, and future Wilco members John Stirratt and Ken Coomer joined the fold—and jumped to a major label for what would be their last album, 1993’s ragged, rootsy masterpiece Anodyne. Long-simmering tensions between Tweedy and Farrar came to a head, and the group broke up in 1994. After Uncle Tupelo’s split, the principal songwriters found sustained success both as solo artists and in other bands: Farrar launched the classic-country-leaning Son Volt, while Tweedy fronts the expansive rock group Wilco.