I want to talk to Jeff Tweedy.

[Maddie Hope]

I am LOVING this thread... great fun. What I do for "poor man's copyright" is e-mail the first, rawest demo of a song via hotmail attachment with lyrics and copyright claim as the text. Fully timestamped on a server of public record. Then I forward that e-mail, already sent to myself with timestamp intact, to a handful of friends, family, etc. I'm pretty sure that's a defendable copyright.

 

Might be wrong, but so far so good!

 

Jim

Yes a "poor man's copyright." Mail your song to yourself and don't let anyone open it. That's what I do for people when I do their Will's, POA's, ect. The email would work also since we are in that era of time... Good Luck!

[Gregory Kollins]

That's absolutely fantastic. I should have thought of that a long time ago.

[DAngerer09]

You probably didn't need to start this thread. Just go here-- http://tinyurl.com/kro3er

[Gregory Kollins]

Enlightening.

[The High Heat]

Wilco's website should have information for where you can send a CD of what you want Jeff to hear. Whether Jeff will listen to it isn't really up to you or any of us

 

I'm sure if you and Jeff found yourselves together with some time to kill, he'd sit and listen to your song and offer some advice as a courtesy. However, established musicians, writers and artists generally don't accept unsolicited material, mainly by direct orders from their managers and lawyers. Reason being: The established artist does not want to be in the position of being accused by an unknown artist of plagarism or theft of an idea for a piece of work.

 

I know this first hand. A few years back I wrote a novel entiltled Deciphering Leonardo and mailed the manuscript to an established author, who changed the title and went on to make about a billion dollars off my work.

 

Damn you, Dan Brown!

[moxiebean]

I find that most musicians are good at honestly assessing their own work .

"Oh, and by the way - They're real, and they're spectacular!"

[yankee]

I want Jeff Tweedy to listen to this song of mine. Can any of you point me in the right direction for contacting him?

1. You and every other Wilco fan with a guitar and the inclination to write a tune. Get in line.

 

2. There are people on this board who have personal contact with Jeff, but they respect his privacy. They aren't going to give out his contact information to their closest friends, let alone someone they've never met who posts a request online.

 

3. If you want to get heard, get out there and perform. Work every little venue that will let you play and build a fan base. Make a video and post it on You Tube and hope it goes viral. That's how a lot of musicians get heard these days. And get over the whole, "my stuff is so great someone's going to steal it." It doesn't matter if it's great if no one hears it. Please.

 

4. Did you get this idea from watching "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" on Disney Channel?

[dunnright00]

Yes a "poor man's copyright." Mail your song to yourself and don't let anyone open it. That's what I do for people when I do their Will's, POA's, ect. The email would work also since we are in that era of time... Good Luck!

 

That's what we did back in "the day". You know before the interwebs.

 

Tape ourselves playing a song, with the name of the band written on the tape, and send it certified mail to ourselves and never open it. Although we were more worried about someone stealing the name of our band, rather than the song itself.

[Doug C]

Am I the only person that immediately and currently thought/think that this thread was/is a gag? He can't be serious. Me thinks that the fisherman has caught a few.

[Atticus]

I want to take a bath with Jeff Tweedy. Can someone help me out with that?

[caliber66]

1. You and every other Wilco fan with a guitar and the inclination to write a tune. Get in line.

 

2. There are people on this board who have personal contact with Jeff, but they respect his privacy. They aren't going to give out his contact information to their closest friends, let alone someone they've never met who posts a request online.

 

3. If you want to get heard, get out there and perform. Work every little venue that will let you play and build a fan base. Make a video and post it on You Tube and hope it goes viral. That's how a lot of musicians get heard these days. And get over the whole, "my stuff is so great someone's going to steal it." It doesn't matter if it's great if no one hears it. Please.

 

4. Did you get this idea from watching "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" on Disney Channel?

Are you having a bad day?

[tongue-tied]

I once got to play one of my songs for Tweedy before a Wilco show. He asked me if anyone else had heard it, I said no, and then Tony handed me a briefcase full of money! I'm glad it's in the right hands but I've always wondered if I could have got more money from the Kit-Kat people if I sang it as "Break It Off".

[IRememberDBoon]

JUST POST THE STUPID SONG YA DINGBAT!

[KansasAl]

Am I the only person that immediately and currently thought/think that this thread was/is a gag?

 

No you are not. I am still trying to figure out if this is a "name the albums in order" thread (a personal fav) yet I am failing to find the punchline or "get it." Perhaps I am slow. Hummmm

 

I want to take a bath with Jeff Tweedy. Can someone help me out with that?

it's not fun. he farts in the tub. true story

[stooka]

I hear Guy Clark is taking song submissions. The winner gets a private writing session with him, all expenses paid!

[dthedust]

ive honestly always wanted to know how he got off the pk's.ive been stuck on a healthy dose of the ox for about 5 years now and was curious if he had any knowledge into that.maybe some of you would?a poor mans remedy.im sure ill get shit for bringing this up,if so i apologize.

[gogo]

If I recall from interviews around that time, he went cold turkey, and then went into rehab after that. But that's off the top of my head, so I may be dead wrong there. Good luck to you, anyway.

 

 

 

And just for kicks, here's a little something for all you songwriters/musicians out there who haven't heard this story before, but are looking for a reason to go nuts with jealousy:

 

Shine.mp3

 

http://forums.viachicago.org/topic/32027-letters-to-santa/page__view__findpost__p__1004613

[Gregory Kollins]

Ah, Lord Almighty, just forget it.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

If I recall from interviews around that time, he went cold turkey, and then went into rehab after that. But that's off the top of my head, so I may be dead wrong there. Good luck to you, anyway.

 

 

 

And just for kicks, here's a little something for all you songwriters/musicians out there who haven't heard this story before, but are looking for a reason to go nuts with jealousy:

 

Shine.mp3

 

http://forums.viachicago.org/topic/32027-letters-to-santa/page__view__findpost__p__1004613

 

I had forgotten how really good the song ended up being.

[The High Heat]

Jeff is secretly Analogman...

 

I've got my money that says he's actually posting under the pseudonym "Dick Ctionary."

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Personally, I kinda like it that Jeff doesn't feel the need to come on here and argue with the likes of us.

[LouieB]

I want to take a bath with Jeff Tweedy. Can someone help me out with that?

That might be possible...

 

JUST POST THE STUPID SONG YA DINGBAT!

Really...others have posted music here and asked for suggestions.

 

 

Personally, I kinda like it that Jeff doesn't feel the need to come on here and argue with the likes of us.

That does not mean he doesn't occasionally get on here and read stuff though. I sure am glad he doesn't argue, that might get scary. This thread is scary enough just as it is.

 

LouieB

[u2roolz]

The only similar thing that I've personally come across is when my friend got to open for Ryan Adams after meeting him at Higher Ground in Vermont April 2005. Than we got to go onto his tour bus at the next show at Hampton Beach. He even called out to him during the show to say something like "you're coming with me". At the Vermont show I know they talked about music and he wanted a cd of my friend's music. So that's why he wanted to see him after the show. It sounds crazy but I have the bootleg and you can hear him onstage saying it. I saw my friend give him the cd and than that was it. I have no idea if he listened to it or if he used it for personal use a coaster.

 

So I guess Ryan Adams went back on tour in June and my friend got to meet him again at the Clifton Park show in NY. That's where he personally asked him to open the show the next day at the Starland Ballroom in NJ. It's even listed on www.answeringbell.com. All The Tired Horses. Even though it was only my friend and his girlfriend who performed due to it being last minute and there was no way for the band to come down to NJ from MA/NH with such short notice. Sadly, I was at a Boston Red Sox game when my friend got to open.

 

I guess my point is my friend had an amazing experience, but the next time he got to meet Ryan he had no idea who he was. Which is fine I guess on the outside looking in. But for anyone who knows the Cold Roses tour he was going for the Jerry Garcia image. He probably wasn't in the right frame of mind. Within seconds my friend laughed it off as classic Ryan Adams behavior.

 

He didn't get any recording contract or a letter from anyone in the business about his cd. But he got one of his biggest idols to ask him for his own music which is pretty irreplaceable.

 

I don't suggest tracking Tweedy down obviously, but I'm not really sure what you want him to say. In my case, I'm a film guy and have done a short film. I don't foresee myself trying to track down Quentin Tarantino to ask his opinion about a scene in my film or rather unproduced script. I did see Harvey Keitel accept a script from a woman at a screening in Boston once at a film festival. Not sure if that ever got made but it made her year I'm sure.

 

I do think you could meet Jeff after a show and hand it off to him personally. But I would not recommend asking him to listen to it right there in that moment.

Would you be happy if Jeff just had a copy of your song/album with no commentary?

 

Like others have posted: you need to pave your own way on your own terms. Talk to close friends or people who play music locally where you live for opinions. Go out and play shows.

 

There's Always Money In The Banana Stand!!!!

[pmancini100]

1. You and every other Wilco fan with a guitar and the inclination to write a tune. Get in line.

 

2. There are people on this board who have personal contact with Jeff, but they respect his privacy. They aren't going to give out his contact information to their closest friends, let alone someone they've never met who posts a request online.

 

3. If you want to get heard, get out there and perform. Work every little venue that will let you play and build a fan base. Make a video and post it on You Tube and hope it goes viral. That's how a lot of musicians get heard these days. And get over the whole, "my stuff is so great someone's going to steal it." It doesn't matter if it's great if no one hears it. Please.

 

4. Did you get this idea from watching "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" on Disney Channel?

 

 

this was a heartfelt thread. you offer some good advice, but the overall tone of the response was just plain unnecessary.

 

anyway, i have always wanted jeff to hear our music. the one time i finally got to meet him, i told him his music inspired me to make my own. that in itself was enough for me.

[pmancini100]

music is music, doesnt matter if youre a professional or someone in a basement. i wanna hear this song/band. just the intent of this thread alone should say something about the song.