The same year of his Oscar-nominated performance in Training Day, Ethan Hawke made his full-length film directorial debut with Chelsea Walls. A fan of Wilco, Hawke approached Jeff Tweedy about scoring the film, and Tweedy agreed. Twenty years later, it's being reissued with two extra tracks.
The soundtrack to Chelsea Walls features improvised instrumentals by Tweedy and Kotche, as well as vocal performances from the film’s Robert Sean Leonard (whom Hawke met when they both worked on the film Dead Poet’s Society), Steve Zahn (Reality Bites, That Thing You Do!), jazz legend “Little” Jimmy Scott, plus contributions from Billy Bragg, and Wilco themselves.
Two decades later, this influential soundtrack returns, not only with two previously unissued bonus tracks, but for the first time as a double-vinyl LP, including an online exclusive colored vinyl variant. The bonus tracks include Leonard’s performance of Wilco’s “Promising” previously only available in the film, and an extended version of Tweedy & Kotche’s “Finale.” The packaging contains new photos, new and original liners from Hawke, a remembrance from Kotche, and an interview between Tweedy and Grammy-winning set producer Cheryl Pawelski.
Chelsea Walls was a pivotal piece in the creative development of Tweedy and Wilco as they emerged into one of the most important bands of our time. Critically, it revisits the creative burst that would lead to one of the first true masterpieces of the 21st Century in Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.