—

As told by Nicki:

To understand us, you first need to know about Uncle Tupelo. Just a little, I promise.

Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country band that was formed by Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy and Mike Heidorn in 1987. After their major label debut album, Anodyne, came out in 1991, they broke up because Tweedy touched Farrar's girlfriend's hair or Farrar yelled at Tweedy or something silly like that. Tweedy, Heidorn and the other members of Uncle Tupelo formed a new band called Wilco, and Farrar found different musicians and formed another band: Son Volt.

Son Volt's first album, Trace (an excellent album if you haven't heard it), was the first album I remember listening to.

Music has always been a big part of my life. I played piano seriously for over a decade and hacked around with guitar. I wasn't afraid to tell my classmates that the pop music they liked was lame, and my taste in less mainstream artists didn't score me many points in life. That is, until it gave me the biggest win of all.

On our first date - a frigid outdoor dinner in January 2021 at Taqueria Amor on Main Street in Manayunk - I asked Justin what his favorite band was. When Justin replied, "Wilco," I thought "I can work with that."