One of the few upsides to the fact that we’re still dealing with the pandemic is the fact that we still get to celebrate Bandcamp Friday at the beginning of every month, which not only ensures that artists get paid 100 percent of all money spent on their music on the platform, but also inspires artists to upload exciting deepcuts to their pages they may otherwise not have shared with the world. One such release arrived this morning from Chicago-based songwriter Neal Francis, who uploaded a live version of the Wilco track “Theologians” which he recorded with the group at their Sky Blue Sky festival earlier this year in Mexico.
“As a Chicagoan, I’ve spent most of my life looking up to Wilco,” Francis explained, “so naturally I was thrilled when they asked me to sit in at Sky Blue Sky. The band was gracious enough to allow me to pick the tune I would play with them, which presented its own challenge because they have so many songs I love. My girlfriend suggested ‘Theologians’ as it’s one of her favorites. I liked that choice because it has a great piano part, and the lyrics really resonate with me as someone who continues to contemplate spirituality.”
The exclusive-to-Bandcamp recording—which will disappear, possibly forever, at midnight—aims to raise money and awareness for the Chicago-based organization My Block My Hood My City, as well as the Ukraine-supporting International Rescue Committee. Check it out here.
