How Liam Kazar Shifts Between Solo Work, Jeff Tweedy Band

Liam Kazar is pulling double duty. But the Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based musician is more than prepared to play both an acoustic solo set and serve as sideman for Jeff Tweedy during the Wilco frontman’s current run.

“The way I play my solo music by myself is very close to how I write the songs,” explains Kazar, who’s handled guitar and keys in rock band Tweedy for the past twelve years. “I think there’s something about the closeness to how you wrote the song that’s always deep in there, whereas when I’m with the Jeff Tweedy band, we have all these arrangements that we’re recreating live.

“A bulk of the mental capacity is spent on the Tweedy set and being a part of a band because you got to make sure you can hear everybody, you have to listen,” he continues. “But me playing my own songs acoustically just feels natural like drinking a cup of tea.”

Kazar is promoting his sophomore album, Pilot Light, which came out in November. He and Tweedy, with latest album Twilight Override, will perform at the Ogden Theatre on Friday, March 13. While he’s brought the lovelorn songs to life with the backing of a band since, being up there by himself makes it all the more vulnerable.

“It’s very intimate. I also don’t make setlists for my solo set because I’m just by myself, and I like the freedom of playing whichever song feels right next. It’s very in the moment,” Kazar says. “It’s just like, ‘I think this song would be good for this crowd next.’ I feel really comfortable presenting them as solo acoustic songs. That’s pretty close to how they were written. When you strip away the band arrangements, there’s just me at the center with a guitar, singing. That record adapts well towards playing these songs in this way.”

Written at the tail end of a breakup, Pilot Light is proving to be more than just musical melancholy, with its implementation of retro pop, folk and alt-Americana on such songs as “The Word The War,” “Didn’t I” and “Day Off.”

“For me, a lot of those songs are a big part of the end of my relationship that I was in at the time,” Kazar shares. “But at this point, I’m less attached to what kind of record it is and how I’m trying to portray it, and I’m just trying to do it the way that feels good to me and hopefully that gets it across in a way that connects with people.”

Trusting your artistic instincts is something he’s learned from working with Jeff Tweedy, especially since it’s such a family affair with his sister, Sima Cunningham, and childhood friend, Spencer Tweedy, also being in the band.

“One of the biggest takeaways I’ve had from working with Jeff for so long is just having an example of someone who made doing art, seeking out a life as an artist, seem possible and sustainable,” he says. “Not sort of a sex, drugs and rock and roll example, but a way to try really hard, do this, take care of yourself, try to put on a good show and keep making music. And if you do that, you can probably keep making music beyond that and keep going.”

But the biggest factor, he’s found, is finding the right company.

“The ultimate secret is surrounding yourself with good people. That’s really the most important thing at the end of the day,” adds Kazar, who will be back at the Ogden on May 14 supporting frequent collaborator Kevin Morby.  

That’s evident in the Tweedy set, he says.

“We do something new at every show. Our encore is never the same thing twice, so there will be surprises for sure. The thing is we don’t’ know what those surprises are until the day of,” Kazar continues. “We do songs in our encore that are never played ever again, so every show is one-of-a-kind.

“There’s a lot of trust on that stage,” he concludes. “Where trust happens, you can be in the moment and just be really musical and not overly performative.”

Liam Kazar, with Jeff Tweedy, 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 13, Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax. Tickets are $69.