I Need a Camera: Wico's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the American Folk Music Tradition
Submission Type
Event
Faculty Advisor
Molly Robey
Expected Graduation Date
2019
Location
Room E106, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Start Date
4-13-2019 10:00 AM
End Date
4-13-2019 11:00 AM
Disciplines
Education
Abstract
Since its tumultuous creation and release in 2001, Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has been seen as a landmark album of the 2000s, appearing on numerous music publications’ lists of the best albums of the decade and of all time. It is also viewed as a radical departure from the band’s roots in alternative country and folk music, due to its reliance on electronics and noise, unusual instrumentation, and unconventional song structures. This essay attempts to redefine Yankee as a confessional folk album: one that continues a tradition apparent in the work of musicians from Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, and Townes Van Zandt, among others.. Through introspective songwriting these artists reflect the troubled times in which they are living. By detailing his personal demons on Yankee, guitarist and principal songwriter Jeff Tweedy shines a light on some of the ills of America in the 21st century.
I Need a Camera: Wico's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the American Folk Music Tradition
Room E106, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Since its tumultuous creation and release in 2001, Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has been seen as a landmark album of the 2000s, appearing on numerous music publications’ lists of the best albums of the decade and of all time. It is also viewed as a radical departure from the band’s roots in alternative country and folk music, due to its reliance on electronics and noise, unusual instrumentation, and unconventional song structures. This essay attempts to redefine Yankee as a confessional folk album: one that continues a tradition apparent in the work of musicians from Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, and Townes Van Zandt, among others.. Through introspective songwriting these artists reflect the troubled times in which they are living. By detailing his personal demons on Yankee, guitarist and principal songwriter Jeff Tweedy shines a light on some of the ills of America in the 21st century.