The Piece of Advice Rick Danko Gave Jeff Tweedy

Jeff Tweedy was recently asked by Rolling Stone about the best piece of advice he'd ever been given. His answer was certain.

The Wilco frontman recalled how, in the early '90s as a member of Uncle Tupelo, he was performing on the Arkansas Traveler tour with Michelle Shocked, the Band and others. Tweedy was rehearsing one day when the Band's Rick Danko approached him.

"'You sound desperate. You should always sound desperate. Don't lose that,'" Tweedy recalled him saying. "It's a weird way of saying something that I totally agree with. I think what he meant is people have to hear that you care — not that you're desperate in your life, but that you're desperate to communicate, desperate to connect. That's why we sing."

"Sadly, he was gone from this world before we ever crossed paths again," Tweedy wrote in a blog post earlier this year. (Danko died in 1999.) "I hope I have lived up to that beautiful advice. I always wonder if he would still hear it in my voice. I still do. It's subtle most of the time."

New Wilco Album on the Way

Tweedy and Wilco will release their 13th album, Cousin, on Sept. 29. Produced by singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon, it's now available for preorder in vinyl, CD and digital formats. So far, they've shared a couple of songs from the LP, "Evicted" and the title track.