Shoving Wilco

Hi everyone, and welcome to Shoving Wilco - a podcast celebrating the music of Wilco.

My name is Todd Rossnagel, and I live in Louisiana - just outside of Baton Rouge, LA, and — as you might have guessed, I am a big fan of Wilco. I’ve been a fan - since the very first album.

And in this podcast - we will focus on the band that began in 1994 — based in Chicago, Illinois, and is regarded by many as today’s greatest rock and roll band. But are they a rock and roll band? Are they better classified as alt-country? Could you call them a punk band? Some of the many topics we will explore here on Shoving Wilco.

Now - you might be asking yourself — why is this podcast called SHOVING Wilco? Well, if you know me — and even if you’ve just met me — there’s a good chance you will hear me talking about Wilco. If you come to my house, you’ll listen to Wilco - if you come to my office, you’ll see Wilco posters. Some say I SHOVE Wilco in their faces! (Hopefully, I will do that in a good way!)

Plus, if you go to a concert with me, you’ll likely receive a shove when we jam together at a Wilco show.

Why the love for Wilco? Well, in many ways, they’re one of the few bands that get BETTER with time…ALL of their albums are phenomenal. And more specifically — for me — Wilco is the soundtrack to my life. I first started listening to them in COLLEGE, so think about that - Wilco has been there for every significant LIFE event for me. There’s an album for the year I got married — albums for each of our children’s birth - albums for the toddler year, the pre-teen years, the teen years, and beyond…albums for career changes - albums and songs for the highs in life, the lows in life and everything in between…

And I’ve lost count to how many Wilco shows I’ve been to — and I can’t begin to describe some of those moments…sharing Wilco with friends and seeing their faces light up during Impossible Germany - or any of the countless live songs that — well — just need to be experienced live.

I work in the church space. I am the Director of Communications for the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, and if you know me, I am deeply theological, and yes - Wilco is deeply theological. In fact, we will unpack some of the theology of Wilco, and I can’t wait to do that with pastor colleagues of mine across the connection.

I have a number of friends of mine who are Wilco fans — and I hope to be connecting with them and experts in the music space as we study just how Wilco has been able to sustain itself and how the band continues to resonate and — at the same time — re-invent itself while seemingly staying true to itself.

One of my closest friends - Tim Arnold - will be featured in the first few episodes — in fact, I have Tim to thank for this podcast as he and I have been talking about Wilco for — well — thirty years, and you’ll get to eavesdrop into some of those conversations.

Our first four episodes will cover the entire discography of Wilco - we’ll talk about our favorite songs, some songs that are underrated, and lest you think this is a podcast that cannot be critical of Wilco - we will dole out some criticism too.

Have an idea for an episode? Or - just want to comment, email me.