Glenn Kotche

Glenn Kotche is a singular percussive force who has been the drummer of Wilco since 2001 and with whom he’s recorded ten studio albums – garnering a Grammy and seven nominations. As a composer, he’s released eight solo albums and has been commissioned by many artists, ensembles and institutions including Kronos Quartet, Silk Road Ensemble, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion, So Percussion, Carnegie Hall, TROMP International Competition, the Chicago Youth Symphony, Brooklyn Rider, Cross-linx Festival and Roomful of Teeth among many others.

Kotche has done cross-disciplinary collaborations with the likes of choreographer Danielle Agami, actor Jon Hamm, chef Rick Bayless, WNYC’s Radiolab, author Karl Ove Knausgård, Notre Dame’s Engineering Dept. and Delta Faucets. In 2015 Kotche commissioned composer John Luther Adams resulting in the 50 minute solo tour de force, Ilimaq. He has also created several sound installations for institutions such as MASSMoCA, Artpark in NY and Eindhoven’s Van Abbemuseum.

Kotche has played on over 200 recordings by artists such as Sylvan Esso, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, KD Lang, Neko Case, Laura Viers, First Aid Kit, Radiohead’s Phil Selway & Ed O’Brien, Jim O’Rourke, Andrew Bird, Sam Beam, Neil Finn, Mavis Staples, Low, Gyan Riley and Beck. Since 1998 he’s been in the genre-bending duo, On Fillmore, along with Darin Gray. Together they’ve released 6 albums. He is also a member of the bands Saccata Quartet with Gray, Nels Cline and Chris Corsano and Loose Fur with Jim O’Rourke and Jeff Tweedy.

He is the author of “A Beat A Week” and in 2020 Kotche started his weekly video post, the DrumBeatProject – a multi-year process piece that explores the compositional possibilities of drum beats. He resides in Chicago with his wife and their 2 children.