Chit-Chat Check-In #73: World Within a Song!
+ An introduction to my editor of six years
Hello, this is your Captain speaking. I’m currently being shuttled around the buroughs of NYC in a big black Cadillac limo-pod. Book tour going well, busy. I thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce you all to another key member of the Starship Casual upper command. Jill, the holo-deck (the “floor,” for those of you growing weary of the space travel schtick) is yours…
P.S. I would have done this introduction as a Chit-Chat Check-In “This is your Captain …”-style voice memo, but I was afraid it would further complicate an already awkward communication environment between myself and “Jerry,” the driver. Carry on.
Hello from another member of the Starship Crew! You may not have heard my name before, but I guess I’m the ... Communications Officer?
Back on earth, though, I’m better known as Jill Schwartzman, Jeff’s editor at Penguin Random House and on the Starship as well. I’ve been lucky enough to work with Jeff on all three of the amazing books pictured below, from 2018’s Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) through World Within a Song, which publishes today!
I’ve loved every book idea that Jeff has come up with, as well as the process of working together. It’s a thrill and a privilege every time! And I can tell you, personally, that nothing beats a few Topo Chicos at the Loft and hanging out with Jeff and the amazing Wilco family, helping Jeff create these amazing books. But I’ll also admit that there’s something about THIS book that hit me in a special way. I remember reading one particular chapter—the one about Michelle Shocked’s song “Anchorage”—and literally crying after I read it, because it brought back so many memories of who I was when I first heard the song, who I am now, and all the time that’s passed between the two ... I’m almost crying again as I type this today! But it was a truly enlightening and emotional experience, as is the entire book, and I’m so incredibly excited to be part of the team that’s sharing this remarkable book with you today.
As the Captain says, Carry On ... and please do order your copy of World Within a Song if you haven't already!
This Week In Wilco, Etc.
2022 / November 6: In honor of Low’s Mimi Parker, Jeff shares his version of “I Hear … Goodnight” on Starship Casual.
2023 / November 7: Jeff’s third book of prose, World Within a Song, is published by Penguin Random House.
1992 / November 8: Uncle Tupelo plays a 24-song set at Lounge Ax in Chicago that includes “I Wanna Destroy You” by The Soft Boys and “Motion Pictures” by Neil Young.
1998 / November 12: Jeff plays a solo show at Lounge Ax. “Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard” is debuted live during the 28-song set, which also includes “Froggie Went A-Courtin’.”
The nicest thing about last night's Synagogue event was hearing audience members' getting to directly tell Jeff (and the room) their personal tales of connection to songs -- which sort of answered Jeff's quite-recent musing on this blog about how he never really knows what people make of a song.
And Jeff's book is a genius idea - -it is a distillation of some of what Questlove did in his memoir but more concise since Jeff had already done the memoir.
I wonder if there's a way to turn it into an active website or podcast somehow where people from around the world can tout one song -- not even a "favorite" per se but just an anecdote of what a song means to them.
Yay Jill!