Wilco On The Road In 2016

Instead of leading up to the album release with press and interviews, Wilco surprised fans with a full stream of its ninth full-length effort, Star Wars, in July. Physical editions of the album hit record stores in the U.S. today. You’ll want to check with your independent record store to get your hands on limited edition white vinyl copies. Vinyl will be available worldwide Oct. 30.

In case you were wondering, you don’t need to go combing through the lyrics for references to Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia. Jeff Tweedy told Rolling Stone that the album’s content isn’t related to George Lucas’ space opera.

“That painting of that cat hangs in the kitchen at the [Wilco] loft, and every day I’d look at it and go, ‘You know, that should just be the album cover.’ Then I started thinking about the phrase ‘Star Wars’ recontextualized against that painting – it was beautiful and jarring. The album has nothing to do with Star Wars. It just makes me feel good. It makes me feel limitless and like there’s still possibilities and still surprise in the world, you know?”

Here’s the 2016 routing:

Jan. 25 – Pittsburgh, Pa., Benedum Center   
Jan. 26 – Burlington, Vt., Flynn Center For The Performing Arts    
Jan. 27 – Portland, Maine, State Theatre       
Jan. 29 – Boston, Mass., Orpheum Theatre   
Jan. 31 – New Haven, Conn., College Street Music Hall      
Feb. 5 – Brooklyn, N.Y., Kings Theatre        
Feb. 6 – Brooklyn, N.Y., Kings Theatre        
Feb. 7 – Washington, D.C., DAR Constitution Hall
Feb. 9 – Norfolk, VA The NorVa     
Feb. 10 – Atlanta, Ga., The Tabernacle         
Feb. 11 – Atlanta, Ga., The Tabernacle         
Feb. 13 – Roanoke, Va., Berglund Performing Arts Theatre

And here’s the support schedule: William Tyler Jan. 25-31, Bill Frisell Feb. 5, Steve Gunn Feb. 6-7, and Girlpool Feb. 9-13.

Presale tickets will be available Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m. EDT. The general public onsale starts Friday, Oct. 16. Visit WilcoWorld.net for more information.