So, where's the change? It's here: Tweedy is also the leader of Wilco, the most acclaimed American rock band of the last decade. The Chicago group has earned accolades and built a fiercely loyal intergenerational audience by following a consistently unpredictable path as it veered from rootsy songcraft to noise-rock experimentation.
And as such, Tweedy is a choice booking for the festival in the third year of an ongoing attempt to update its stodgy image with an infusion of talent that appeals to fans younger than its aging baby boomer core audience.
This year, the raspy-voiced songwriter is the biggest draw at the festival, which begins with a Thursday night camping concert headlined by Philadelphia trio Hoots & Hellmouth and runs through Sunday. The multigenerational strummers and pickers include British ace guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson, Appalachian mystery man Bonnie Prince Billy, sharp-eyed songwriter Erin McKeown, and revered bluesman Taj Mahal.
For Tweedy, who spoke on the phone from his home in Chicago last week, playing the folkfest makes sense for the same reasons Wilco decided to put together its own festival and make its first Philadelphia-area appearance behind 2009's Wilco (The Album) last July at Delaware's Frawley Stadium, home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
"We've been trying to find alternative ways and places to present the band," says the singer and guitarist. "We've been playing minor-league baseball stadiums, trying to do as many shows as we can which we can ticket ourselves" rather than partner with the concert-industry dominators Ticketmaster and Live Nation. "I don't think that is a battle you can take on in a general, broad sense. But I think it's good for you as a band to work on ways to maintain some independence."
