Wilco’s New DVD To Aid Ailing Record Stores

Record Store Day is April 18th, and Wilco are planning on boosting sales for mom and pop shops by releasing a new DVD, Ashes of American Flags, exclusively at indie record stores on that day (regular retailers will get theirs two weeks later).

Record Store Day is April 18th, and Wilco are planning on boosting sales for mom and pop shops by releasing a new DVD, Ashes of American Flags, exclusively at indie record stores on that day (regular retailers will get theirs two weeks later).

“My introduction to a lot of great music and to the ‘music business’ came from hanging around and eventually working at independent record stores in Belleville, Ill., and St. Louis many years back,” Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy tells Billboard.com. “It’s the life I know. Nothing beats browsing in your favorite store, listening to music, finding something new or old that you’ve been searching for, being ignored by the store clerks, all that. And without these stores, there’s just no way Wilco would still be around. They’ve been with us from the very beginning, through thick and thin. Even if I wasn’t in a band, I’d still support Record Store Day. It’s a great thing and I’m glad we could do something special with them for our DVD.”

Said DVD is a live document of the band’s smoking hot 2008 tour, and features footage shot in Nashville, Tulsa, Mobile, and New Orleans.The band initially planned to release their acclaimed 2005 live double album, Kicking Television, as a DVD concert film, but later balked when they decided too many of their fans were wearing shirts with company logos on them.

We’re glad they worked that out. Wilco’s next studio album is slated for release this summer.