Today, Nels Cline and John Stirratt, two members of Wilco, came to the Advocate for some open discussion and free Boloco burritos.  The two were very honest in answering students’ questions about songwriting, tour life, favorite venues, recording, and their own personal lives.  Cline spoke of the difficulty of playing music as your field of work, citing the challenges of having a personal life with time for experience, romance, and introspection.   Stirratt, the only remaining original member of the band apart from Jeff Tweedy, echoed Cline’s thoughts, saying there is a point where you realize “a hobby has taken over your life.”

They also talked about music in a broad sense, from songwriting to recording.  On the issue of recorded music and the fall of the record in today’s age of digital music and single song downloads, Cline remarked that “recording is a blip on the time line of centuries and centuries of music.”  Live music has been around far longer than the first recording devices and the importance of music lies in the spontaneity of live music.  As a tip to songwriters yearning to create something new and original, he advised students not to worry too much.  He said that you will give music its own unique twist, even if it shares a chord progression with hundreds of other songs.  The two were happy to answer all questions thrown their way.  Wilco plays tomorrow night at the Orpheum in Boston.