Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy will write about the songs that have influenced him in a new book coming this fall.
Dutton will publish Tweedy’s World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music, the Penguin Random House imprint announced in a news release. The press describes the book as “an exciting and heartening mix of memories, music, and inspiration.”
Tweedy became a star in the alt-country genre as a member of Uncle Tupelo, the influential band that broke up in 1994. He went on to found the rock band Wilco, which gained critical acclaim for albums including Being There, Summerteeth, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
He is the author of two previous books, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) and How To Write One Song, which a critic for Kirkus called “a concise look at how to listen and appreciate.”
“Jeff Tweedy is back with another disarming, beautiful, and inspirational book about why we listen to music, why we love songs, and how music can connect us to each other and to ourselves,” Dutton says of Tweedy’s new book. “Featuring fifty-plus songs that have both changed Jeff's life and influenced his music—including songs by The Replacements, Mavis Staples, The Velvet Underground, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Dolly Parton, and Billie Eilish—as well as thoughts on Jeff's own songs…this book is a mix of the musical, the emotional, and the inspirational in the best possible way.”
World Within a Song is scheduled for publication on Nov. 7.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
