 Tweedy relied heavily on Bennett to provide music for the singer's "bold, but depressing" lyrics.Wilco recorded several songs, including "Via Chicago" and "She's a Jar", but began working on another project before assembling the tracks into an album.Nora Guthrie contacted singer-songwriter Billy Bragg in spring 1995 about recording some unreleased songs by her father, folk singer Woody Guthrie.