Today, Jeff Tweedy announces Starship Casual, his new newsletter published on Substack. Starship Casual digs deep into the types of connections one can make with strangers when one shuts off a few of the filters neurotic worry brings, and lets shit fly instead. When the pandemic hit, Tweedy found himself sharing songs with friends, and the simple joy of making something and exchanging feedback gave them a sense of connection and community. This feeling was only strengthened by The Tweedy Show, a live family show on Instagram started by Susie Tweedy in the midst of no touring that now has a slew of dedicated followers. The Starship Casual newsletter builds on that communal spirit. It will include unreleased music, record and book recommendations, thoughts on the process of songwriting, tour stories, and more.
Starship Casual’s first entry posts tomorrow, August 5th, the day Wilco finally return to the road. Sign Up for Jeff Tweedy’s Starship Casual Substack
Tweedy elaborates on Starship Casual:
“I know I’ve shared a lot — been pretty prolific for a scary long time now. But a couple of things happened this past year (which I’ll get to in a sec) that have me craving a bit more of a direct experience with my collaborators (you). Social media has never quite met these needs for me. Occasionally I’ve dabbled with tweets and whatnot, but I’ve never been able to quite put my finger on the reason for the emptiness I feel trying to engage with all of you while using those formats.
I really want this newsletter to be an extension of that experience, and to put into practice some of the insight I’ve gained about my past attempts to make social media feel worthwhile and honest to me. It’s the community I’ve always missed. Blue checks or not I’m not sure anyone is really themself — really who they say they are in that climate over there. I’m going to settle in here and share all kinds of things with an added emphasis on a feeling of direct interaction. Mostly, I just want to be here where you can find me. If you need me. Because I like you. Let’s spend some time together.”
