John Chadwick StirrattBMI entry
/ref> is an American bassist and multi-instrumentalist for

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently d ...

and The Autumn Defense.

Early career

Stirratt grew up in Mandeville,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

. He attended

Mandeville High School Mandeville High School is a public high school located in Mandeville, Louisiana, United States, a suburban city located thirty miles north of New Orleans. It is part of the St. Tammany Parish Public Schools system. Mandeville High School is a coe ...

and the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

, and is a member of

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...

fraternity. He played regularly around the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

with The Hilltops, a band based in Oxford, Mississippi, that included his twin sister

Laurie Stirratt Blue Mountain is an American alt-country/roots rock band formed in 1991 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Cary Hudson (guitar and vocals) and Laurie Stirratt (bass and harmony vocals), who is the twin sister of John Stirratt, the bass player for the l ...

and her husband

Cary Hudson Cary Hudson is an American lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter of the alternative country/Southern rock band Blue Mountain. Biography Hudson was born in the town of Sumrall, Mississippi, located approximately 15 miles from Hattiesburg ...

. During this time he met and befriended the band

Uncle Tupelo Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to atten ...

and supported them on tours of the East and Midwest. After the breakup of The Hilltops in 1990 Stirratt recorded a record under the name ''The Gimmecaps'' and briefly joined the Lafayette, Louisiana, band The Bluerunners before joining Uncle Tupelo in 1992 as bassist/guitarist on their last album ''Anodyne''.

Wilco and The Autumn Defense

After the breakup of

, Stirratt rejoined

Jeff Tweedy Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, started his music career in hi ...

Ken Coomer Ken Coomer is an American musician and producer best known for his drumming in Uncle Tupelo and later Wilco. He was the drummer and co-founder of the Nashville-based band, Clockhammer, in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Career Coomer produced th ...

, and Max Johnston to found

in 1994. Since the founding of Wilco, Stirratt and Tweedy are the only members to contribute to all Wilco releases. Stirratt also joined Wilco members

Jay Bennett Jay Walter Bennett (November 15, 1963 – May 24, 2009) was an American multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer, and singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the band Wilco from 1994 to 2001. Biography Early life and work with Wilco Jay ...

and Ken Coomer to form Courtesy Move, an early Wilco side project that recorded an album in late 1996 that was never released. Stirratt formed The Autumn Defense in 2000 with friend and fellow New Orleanian

Pat Sansone Patrick Anthony "Pat" Sansone (born June 21, 1969) is an American multi-instrumentalist in the rock bands Wilco and The Autumn Defense. Early bands Sansone was born in Meridian, Mississippi. Upon entering college at The University of South ...

References

External links

*
The Autumn Defense
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirratt, John 1967 births Living people American bass guitarists American country singer-songwriters Wilco members Uncle Tupelo members The Minus 5 members Musicians from New Orleans People from Mandeville, Louisiana Guitarists from Louisiana American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists American male bass guitarists Singer-songwriters from Louisiana