When: Sunday, Sept. 16
Doors: 6 p.m., Show: 7 p.m.
Where: The Blue Note, outside on 9th Street
Cost: $35

It’s hard not to love Wilco’s humility despite its ever-growing popularity and critical acclaim.

Ever since its 1994 debut _A.M._, the band has continued to reinvent its experimental rock sound with each subsequent album, most recently on its eighth studio LP, _The Whole Love_. Although its music evolves, the six-piece outfit keeps its loyal fanbase coming back for more with low-key hooks and lead singer Jeff Tweedy’s signature vocals.

Before visiting The Blue Note for an outdoor show on Ninth Street, Wilco co-founder and bassist John Stirratt chatted with MOVE about new material, upcoming plans and a special translated single.

**[MOVE]:** You guys are still touring in support of your new album, _The Whole Love_.

**[John Stirratt]:** We are. I guess the record is coming up on being a year old now, so you know, we just try to stay on the road. We’re such a road band. We’re still really busy but looking to finish on a high note for the year.

**[M]:** How has the tour been different from past ones you’ve done?

**[JS]:** Personally I like seeing in different areas the bigger venues. Like, we’re doing the Hollywood Bowl in L.A. and we’ve done the Greek Theatre for, you know, 10 years now … It’s nice to graduate to something else. It feels good. We underplay a lot — we play smaller venues often, so it’s nice to know that when we go to a place that everyone who wants to come can come. It’s generally not always like that. A lot of people just aren’t able to see us who want to see us.

**[M]:** You did The Incredible Shrinking Tour of Chicago earlier this year. Why did you guys choose to do those shows?

**[JS]:** We thought it was a nice idea. We might be a little bit too big for some of the venues physically on stage, but it’s always nice to play places this small, like Lincoln Hall, which is like 700 (capacity) and a tiny stage. It’s good to get on a small stage once in a while and get in touch with being that close to each other.

**[M]:** How’s the reaction been to your new material on tour?

**[JS]:** It’s really been a positive vibe for the record from the get-go, from release and everything … People know the lyrics, and they seem to know the material and anticipate it, and it is a lot of fun playing new stuff live. That’s the most fun — the freshest stuff, so it’s naturally the most fun to play.

**[M]:** Speaking of new material, you released a Spanish single of “Dawned on Me.” What was the inspiration behind that?

**[JS]:** It was just sort of a special single for that market … Spain has just been so good to us, so Jeff (Tweedy) got a vocal coach or Spanish coach to come in to help get a good translation. We’re going to go over in October before the end of the year. There’s definitely love between Wilco and Spain (laughs).

**[M]:** Coming to Columbia, do you guys prepare differently for a college-aged crowd?

**[JS]:** Not really. It’s been several years since we’ve been to Columbia. We’re going to play a lot of the new record and then just try to touch on every record really, and maybe some B-sides. It’s an outdoor show, and in this case it’ll be a Sunday, but people will probably be ready to rock. If we are playing a festival, we’ll generally try to make it a more upbeat, a little more rocking, and with the college age, I imagine it will be a little more uptempo.

**[M]:** You guys are finishing this tour in October in Europe. What are you doing afterward?

**[JS]:** Different people have projects going on. Jeff has got production with Mavis Staples’s record, the follow-up to the record last year … Mike (Mikael Jorgensen, lead pianist and keyboardist) has the Pronto record coming out in the fall, and Autumn Defense, me and Patrick (Sansone, multi-instrumentalist), have a record probably in the next year finishing up over the winter … It’s been a crazy year, so it’s definitely time to take a breather for a little bit, but I’m sure we’ll be getting in again sometime.