Getting to know Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, who played early gigs in Cincinnati

Two decades after its tumultuous breakout album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” folk-rock outfit Wilco returns to Cincinnati on Tuesday, Aug. 16 with “Cruel Country,” its 12th studio effort.

The new songs understate the band’s experimental tendencies and instead take a minimalist approach, emphasizing singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy’s poeticism and raspy vocal delivery.

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I recently spoke with drummer Glenn Kotche about the band’s writing and recording process, its touring regimen, and his eclectic approach to percussion and composition.

Here's a look at our chat. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Do you have any Cincinnati stories I can share?A: I lived in Lexington, and because it was so close, back in the early days when I was playing with Paul K & the Weathermen, we hit Cincinnati – Sudsy Malone's and the Southgate House. I have a great memory from there, opening for Guided By Voices and Railroad Jerk. When I was in the band Bird Dog we recorded at John Curley's studio, Ultrasuede. It was fun to get to the big city where there was a much more happening music scene.

I've played on the riverfront before. That's where I used to go see the fireworks when I was in college. Bryce Dessner puts on the Music Now Festival. I think I played the first one. I've known Bryce way back from the Bang on Can days, when he would sub for Mark Stewart. And I think I played there with David Cossin and Bang on a Can early on. It's a really great festival. We just played with The National in Europe a couple of weeks ago.

Q: How did your drumline experience influence your “everything is an instrument” approach to music?

A: I was lucky to go to a super competitive high school marching program. That got me ready for drum and bugle corps. The caption head at Cavaliers when I was there was my professor, James Campbell, at University of Kentucky. There was a lot of stuff in the sideline pit that was interesting. I remember Jim had the bass drum line playing bodhran techniques - the Irish drum mallet. We had all sorts of little preparations and different sticks and scrapers and stuff.

I think that came from a percussion ensemble mentality. There's a lot of interesting writing for modern percussion ensembles that use extended techniques and nontraditional instruments, or where you have to prepare an instrument to make it work with the ensemble. Marching percussion, the rhythmic aspects of it, always had a big impact on me. I'm lucky to be in a band where all those influences are welcome.

Q: How is your mindset different when you're writing for Wilco versus for your solo work or chamber composition?

A: I think atonal aspects come from John Cage. He popularized using marimbas and vibraphones in a different context outside of classical or jazz. The main difference is, with my own music, it's more of an extension of my drum set playing – concepts I have and things I want to explore that would either be way too difficult for me to pull off or would take too much time to learn.

The chief difference with Wilco is it's a vehicle for Jeff's lyrics. I want to play something that's not the first thing you'd expect to hear, because I want the listener’s ears to perk up so they pay more attention to the song and more attention to the lyrics. At the same time, I need to play something that doesn't get in the way, and something that's comfortable for five other guys to play with. In Wilco, I'm thinking more as an ensemble player, and when I'm making my own music, I'm not so concerned about that.

Q: On the new album you play very unselfishly – very textural. How much conversation is there among the band when it comes to writing individual parts? Do you all collaborate when you're writing or do you each decide what you're going to play individually?

A: It's both, especially depending on the record. When it's something more thought out, where we're trying to achieve something we haven't done before, we'll discuss things a lot more. With "Cruel Country," it was kind of the opposite. I think it's the strongest record lyrically. We didn't need to dress songs up or rearrange them or put them in a different light. We left everything in that folky country context, where a lot of the material for any record originates – on acoustic guitar in a folk setting. We embraced that, and so there was very little discussion and the songs came out so quickly.

We were in the same room. So, there's a lot of trust that everyone is going to play a part that makes sense and is going to play well enough that if there's bleed or mistakes we can just leave them in and it won't be that big of a deal. By and large, it was like, "Oh, this is a cool idea. It works. OK, everyone sounds good. Let's do it."

Q: A lot of the songs sound like they just wrote themselves as you were playing along – really organic.

A: That was a lot of fun for me. I still put in little subtle things that a lot of people wouldn't hear that are challenging to me – that are going to make it fun still for me to play the 400th time. It was also fun to not overthink something and to just enjoy the experience of playing with these other people, playing these great songs.

Q: Is there a routine pre-show or in the studio that you have to keep the band’s energy up?

A: Before shows, we get together and play songs backstage. We'll go over songs that we haven't played in a long time, or we'll work on new material or play-through covers. We just get used to playing in the same room together as a band. That's always cool because when we go out on stage, we're presenting these songs to you, 'This is what a band sounds like playing together.' It's more about the music, less about the spectacle.

Wilco - Cruel Country Tour, with Courtney Marie Andrews

When: 6:30 pm, Tuesday, Aug. 16.

Where: PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation, 101 W. Fourth St., Newport.

Tickets: $49.50-$99.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche on return to Cincinnati