Glenn's There, Doing That

Multifaceted drummer from
Wilco showcases solo skills
Glenn Kotche is a busy man.
Solo artist. Drummer for Wilco, Loose Fur, On Fillmore. Collaborator to many. New father of one.
Speaking to him recently as he waited to board a plane for a taping of "The Colbert Report" in New York City, Kotche, 38, talked about the whirlwind of a year he's having – both professionally and personally.
It's for his main gig with Wilco that Kotche is most known. Since joining the Grammy-winning group in 2001, the band has released one live album, "Kicking Television," and three studio albums, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," "A Ghost is Born" and "Sky Blue Sky," with another in the works.
"We just finished a month in the studio," Kotche says. "We will be recording more while we tour, with the album ready for release next summer."
But this tour isn't like most. Instead of being the headliners, Wilco has to settle playing second-fiddle to legendary rocker Neil Young.
"We all grew up listening to Neil Young," he says. "It's a an honor."
The group will join Young on the second leg of his current tour beginning Nov. 29 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The jaunt concludes Dec. 15 with a two-night gig at New York's famed Madison Square Garden. Wilco recently performed at Young's Bridge School Benefit alongside other bands such as like Death Cab for Cutie, Cat Power and Band of Horses.

THE PAST
It's all a world away from Roselle, Ill., the suburban Chicago town where Kotche grew up. P
laying drums from a young age, Kotche was a member of the drum line in the Lake Park High School marching band. After high school, he was recruited by the University of Kentucky, where he earned a bachelors degree in music performance. Since graduating, Kotche has continued to progress as an artist, even passing his knowledge on to others for a while.
"I was teaching full-time when I joined Wilco," Kotche says. "But Wilco is not like most bands. We never take long breaks away – rarely more than a week or two off. Then, with my solo projects and stuff, I'm just too busy to teach right now."
It's one of Kotche's solo projects that has him on stage in Chicago this week, playing Tuesday night with eighth blackbird. The show at Harris Theatre for Music and Dance has been billed as "Indie Classical Meets Indie Rock." The show consists of a solo performance by Kotche for the first half of the evening, followed by eighth blackbird and Kotche performing together.
"It's going to be a cool show. I'm really excited," Kotche says. "I have always been interested in their kind of music. I saw (eighth blackbird) play a show in Chicago and was really impressed with their sound."
Together, Kotche and eighth blackbird will debut "Double Fantasy," a new piece by Kotche based on "Fantasy on a Shona Theme" from Kotche's most recent solo record "Mobile."

THE FUTURE
But it's not just in his professional life that Kotche has seen change this year. In June, he and his wife, Miri, welcomed a daughter, Vivian Rosina.
At just 4-months-old, Kotche sees no pressure for his daughter to follow in his footsteps as a musician. Instead, he hopes Vivian takes after his wife.
"She's a bioengineer and the brains of the family," he says.
Either way, it's never too early to expose her to dad's line of work – or a passport. The family will travel to Tokyo this month where Kotche plans to record with Jim O'Rourke. Kotche, O'Rourke and Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy perform together as Loose Fur. The group has no albums in the works at the moment, but Kotche says there will be.
"It may take a while, with schedules and all, but we will release something else."
As will On Fillmore, the jazz duo he comprises with Darin Gray. The pair already has an album in the can and are just looking for a new label. Kotche won't have a whole lot of time to fret over its release. Ongoing collaborations with the Kronos Quartet, Andrew Bird and, as always, Wilco, should keep his mind occupied.
After all, he is a busy man.

JUST A FEW GROUPS KOTCHE PERFORMS WITH:
WILCO: Lead singer Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stiratt, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, guitarist Nels Cline and keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen – recently spent a month in their Chicago loft laying down tracks for the next album, expected to be released in summer 2009.

LOOSE FUR: Kotche joined forces with Sonic Youth's Jim O'Rourke and Tweedy under the moniker Loose Fur. The trio first convened in May 2000 to prepare for a Tweedy performance at a festival in Chicago. Tweedy was offered the opportunity to collaborate with an artist of his choosing, and he decided to work with O'Rourke. O'Rourke brought Kotche to a rehearsal session, and the trio recorded an album's worth of songs. They have released two albums, 2003's "Loose Fur" and 2006's "Born Again in the USA."

ON FILLMORE: Kotche and upright bass player Darin Gray formed the group in the summer of 2001. The duo has released several albums, including "On Fillmore" and "Sleeps with Fishes." The pair has laid down tracks for a new album, but is in the process of finding another label.

ANDREW BIRD: From Andrew Bird's New York Times blog: "I recently spent another week at the Wilco loft playing with percussionist Glenn Kotche of Wilco and Todd Sickafoose, a brilliant upright bass player from Brooklyn. I just thought, let's put us all in a room and see what happens. These guys are some of the most virtuosic, thoughtful musicians I know, in keeping with my vow to only make music with really good people." What we worked on was a "separate project than his upcoming studio release," Kotche says. "More instrumental. I have no idea what is going to happen with him." (The album is included in the deluxe edition of "Noble Beast."

KRONOS QUARTET: Kotche collaborated with the Kronos Quartet on a piece written for them titled "Anomaly." The arrangement premiered at the San Francisco Jazz Festival in October 2007.

Kotche, eighth blackbird shine in Chicago
(A review of the October show at Harris Theater in Chicago.)
When Glenn Kotche and eighth blackbird opened their Tuesday night show in Chicago they kept it simple. With Kotche leading the way, the seven musicians stood in a semicircle each taking their part of Steve Reich's 1972 arrangement of "Clapping Hands."
Obvious instruments used? Their hands.
It was an attention-grabbing way to open the show, as audience members sat mesmerized by the tune.
The event at Harris Theatre for Music and Dance was billed as "Indie Classical Meets Indie Rock."
And that it was.
The pairing of Grammy-winning group eighth blackbird – Tim Monro, flutes; Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets; Matt Albert, violin and viola; Nicholas Photinos, cello; Matthew Duval, percussion; and Lisa Kaplan, piano – with Kotche, drummer for Wilco, was pure genius.
The different styles merged together to help create hours of driving music. Kotche looked like a man possessed during his first solo piece, an arrangement of Reich's "Music for Pieces Wood."
But it was with "Monkey Chant" that Kotche truly shone.
The song, from Kotche's most-recent solo album "Mobile," is set against a 15-minute film by Nathaniel Murphy.
"The 'Monkey Chant' movie is an enhancement to the song," Kotche said. "It lets the audience into the music more."
In addition to a normal drum kit, Kotche uses a modified set-up, including springs and cricket boxes, in a loose retelling of the monkey army's battle story from the Hindu epic tale "Ramayana."
It was the cricket boxes that provided a laugh later in the evening, as their chirping could still be heard as eighth blackbird's Kaplan performed Kotche's arrangement of "The Corner."
"Can't forget to cover the crickets," Kotche said after Kaplan was finished. Otherwise they will drive us all crazy."
Following the intermission, Kotche and eighth blackbird appeared together again, this time on a darkened stage.
As they began to play Kotche's arrangement of "Individual Trains," a new film by Kotche and Murphy flashed on the screen.
The film was created from overlapping images of Chicago, downtown shots and ones from Kotche's Albany Park neighborhood.
Late in the show, eighth blackbird debuted "Double Fantasy," a new piece by Kotche based on "Fantasy on a Shona Theme" from Kotche's most-recent solo record "Mobile."
The seven closed the night with Louis Andriessen's "Worker's Union," originally written for an ensemble of brass instruments.
Following the show, Kotche and eighth blackbird held a "backtalk" session, answering audience questions. When asked why Kotche chose to work with eighth blackbird, his answer was simple: "They know each others' musical personalities so well," he said referring to the group. "For me it gives me a lot more options."
eighth blackbird's praise of Kotche was also to the point: "Glenn was such a joy to work with," pianist Kaplan said. "So easy-going and fun."
Just like his music.
• CHRISTOPHER SMITH PHOTO | THE TIMES OF NORTHWEST INDIANA