Six months ago, guitarist Nils Cline broke the news that Wilco would be starting its own label and today the band finally announced the formation of dBpm Records. The new imprint will “release all future Wilco recordings and more” according to a statement. DBpm will be distributed by ANTI- Records, a company that will also provide marketing and other other label services.
Tweedy worked with ANTI- on the latest Mavis Staples release and liked what he saw. “This is an idea we’ve discussed for years,” said Tweedy in the statment. “We really like doing things ourselves, so having our own label feels pretty natural to me. And, to be working with ANTI- a label that has its roots in a label that was started by a punk rock guy to sell his own records seems like a perfect fit for us,” the Wilco front man continued.
“Wilco’s independent streak is well documented and nothing new,” mentioned Wilco manager Tony Margherita in the statement. “and this is the culmination of what we’ve been working towards for the last 15 years. As we reached the end of our last deal, it felt like it was time for a change and the one thing we were certain we did NOT want to do was to sign another traditional recording agreement. Our discussions with ANTI-, coming on the back of a great experience working with them on the Mavis Staples record, led us to thinking we might be able to come up with something quite different from the norm that could potentially be better for us and, frankly, a lot more interesting. And that’s exactly what happened,” Margherita finished.
Wilco also announced its first tour of 2011 as well as a string of solo dates for Tweedy. The tour finds Wilco dotting the Southeast along with Texas and Oklahoma including an appearance at Jazz Fest in New Orleans.
JEFF TWEEDY SOLO TOUR DATES
March 22 Toronto Queen Elizabeth Theatre
March 25 Montreal L’Olympia de Montréal
March 26 Portland, ME State Theatre
March 28 Madison, WI Capitol Theater
March 29 Rochester, MN Mayo Civic Center Presentation Hall
March 30 Iowa City, IA The Englert Theatre
WILCO TOUR DATES
May 2 Montgomery, AL Montgomery Performing Arts Center
May 3 Mobile, AL Saenger Theatre
May 5 New Orleans, LA Jazzfest
May 6 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater
May 7 Denton, TX University of N. Texas Auditorium
May 8 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
