Columbia to release Uncle Tupelo's out-of-print catalog

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The long out-of-print albums from defunct "alt-country" band Uncle Tupelo will finally be released on a major label, though it won't be Warner Music, the company with which the band's members had an extended relationship in the 1990s.

Columbia/Legacy is bringing the full Uncle Tupelo catalog back in print, starting April 9 with a new, single-disc career overview - "Uncle Tupelo 89/93: An Anthology."

The band's three albums recorded for the tiny Rockville label - "No Depression," "Still Feel Gone" and "March 16-20, 1992" - will be digitally remastered and expanded with bonus cuts, liner notes and photos. Legacy expects to release the discs in the fall or early 2003.

Uncle Tupelo, formed in suburban St. Louis in the 1980s, was at the forefront of the alternative country movement until its members split up in 1994 after the release of "Anodyne" on Warner-distributed Sire. Co-leader Jay Farrar then created Son Volt , with Uncle-mate Mike Heidorn, and began recording for Warner Bros. until the label dropped them last year.

Co-leader Jeff Tweedy teamed with Tupelo-mates Ken Coomer, Max Johnston and John Stirratt to create Wilco , which recorded for sister label Reprise until its very public split from the label last year. Nonesuch, distributed by Warner-Elektra-Atlantic, will issue the next Wilco collection; Farrar's first solo album was released last year by Artemis.

Legacy initiated conversations with Tweedy, who had been looking to get the albums back in print. Legacy offered to handle the Uncle Tupelo discs in a manner similar to its work with the Byrds catalog, which sold Tweedy and Farrar on Columbia/Legacy.