Nels Cline

Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004.

In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex Cline, a percussionist. He has worked with musicians in punk and alternative rock such as Mike Watt and Thurston Moore. He leads the Nels Cline Singers, Nels Cline Trio, and the Nels Cline 4.

Cline was named the 82nd greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in November 2011.

Cline began to play guitar at age 12 when his twin brother Alex Cline started playing drums. The brothers developed together musically, playing in a rock band called Homogenized Goo. Both graduated from University High School. Cline cites hearing a recording of Jimi Hendrix performing "Manic Depression" as a defining moment in his decision to become a guitarist.

Cline has performed on over 150 albums in jazz, pop, rock, country, and experimental music. He was featured in a cover story by Guitar Player magazine for his work with the rock band Wilco.

Cline is married to Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto. Their wedding was in Honda's hometown in Japan in November 2010. They met through Mike Watt when he assembled the group Floored by Four.Cline joined Honda as a guest guitarist in the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono band for their tour in 2010. Cline joined Honda and her band Cibo Matto at the 2015 Solid Sound Festival.

• Angelica (Enja, 1988)
• The Inkling (Cryptogramophone, 2000)
• Destroy All Nels Cline (Atavistic, 2001)
• New Monastery (Cryptogramophone, 2006)
• Coward (Cryptogramophone, 2009)
• Dirty Baby (Cryptogramophone, 2010)
• Lovers (Blue Note, 2016)
• Currents, Constellations (Blue Note, 2018)

With the Nels Cline Trio

• Silencer (Enja, 1992)
• Ground (Krown Pocket, 1995)
• Chest (Little Brother, 1996)
• Sad (Little Brother, 1998)

With the Nels Cline Singers

• Instrumentals (Cryptogamophone, 2002)
• The Giant Pin (Cryptogramophone, 2004)
• Draw Breath (Cryptogramophone, 2007)
• The Celestial Septet (New World Records, 2010)
• Initiate (Cryptogramophone, 2010)
• Macroscope (Mack Avenue, 2014)

With Quartet Music

• Quartet Music (Nine Winds, 1981)
• Ocean Park (Nine Winds, 1984)
• Window on the Lake (Nine Winds, 1986)
• Summer Night (Delos, 1989)

With Wilco

• Kicking Television: Live in Chicago (Nonesuch, 2005)
• Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch, 2007)
• Wilco (The Album) (Nonesuch, 2009)
• The Whole Love (dBpm, 2011)
• Star Wars (dBpm, 2015)
• Schmilco (dBpm, 2016)
• Ode to Joy (Wilco album) (dBpm, 2019)

With Floored by Four

• Floored by Four (Chimera Music, 2010)

With Exoterm

• Exits Into A Corridor (Hubro, 2019)

Collaborations

• Elegies with Eric Von Essen (Nine Winds, 1980)
• In-Store (Father Yod, 1997) with Thurston Moore
• Pillow Wand (Little Brother, 1997) with Thurston Moore
• Rise Pumpkin Rise (Vovolo, 1998) with Devin Sarno
• Scarnella (Smells Like, 1998) with Carla Bozulich
• Edible Flowers (WIN, 1998) with Devin Sarno
• Interstellar Space Revisited (Atavistic, 1999) with Gregg Bendian
• Live at Easthampton Town Hall (JMZ, 2001) with Zeena Parkins & Thurston Moore
• Acoustic Guitar Trio (Incus, 2001) with the Acoustic Guitar Trio
• Buried on Bunker Hill (Groundfault, 2004) with Devin Sarno
• The Entire Time (Nine Winds, 2004) with Vinny Golia
• Graduation (Free103point9, 2004) with Chris Corsano & Carlos Giffoni
• Ash and Tabula (Atavistic, 2004) with Andrea Parkins & Tom Rainey
• Immolation/Immersion (Strange Attractors Audio House, 2005) with Wally Shoup & Chris Corsano
• Banning + Center (Experimental Music Research, 2005) with Jeremy Drake
• Season Finale (Box-O-Plenty, 2005) with Solo Career
• Distressed (2006) (with Zach Hill as Damsel)
• Four Guitars Live (2006) (with Lee Ranaldo, Carlos Giffoni & Thurston Moore)
• Downpour (2007) (with Andrea Parkins & Tom Rainey)
• Duo Milano (2007) (with Elliott Sharp)
• Suite: Bittersweet (2007) (with Wally Shoup & Greg Campbell)
• Nothing Makes Any Sense (2007) (with Carlos Giffoni, Alan Licht & Lee Ranaldo)
• Vignes (2009) (with Acoustic Guitar Trio)
• Red Feast (2009) (with Stephen Gauci, Ken Filiano & Mike Pride)
• Elevating Device (2009) (with G.E. Stinson)
• Stained Radiance (2010) (with Norton Wisdom)
• Floored by Four (2010) (with Mike Watt, Yuka Honda & Dougie Bowne)
• The Veil (Cryptogramophone, 2011) with Tim Berne & Jim Black as BB&C
• The Gowanus Session (Porter, 2012) with William Parker & Thollem McDonas
• Jazz Free: A Connective Improvisation (2012) (with Henry Kaiser, Jim Thomas, Weasel Walter, Allen Whitman)
• Open the Door (2012) (with Elliott Sharp)
• Ocean Above Your Heads (2013) (with My Cat Is An Alien)
• Woodstock Sessions Vol. 2 (Woodstock Sessions, 2014) with Medeski, Martin & Wood
• Room (Mack Avenue, 2014) with Julian Lage
• Radical Empathy (Relative Pitch, 2015) with Thollem McDonas & Michael Wimberly
• Accidental Sky (Northern Spy, 2015) with White Out

As sideman

With Scott Amendola

• Cry (Cryptogramophone, 2003)

With Banyan

• Banyan (CyberOctave, 1997)
• Anytime at All (1999)
• Live at Perkins' Palace (2004)

With Gregg Bendian

• Gregg Bendian's Interzone (Eremite, 1997)
• Myriad (Atavistic, 2000)
• Requiem for Jack Kirby (Atavistic, 2001)

With Tim Berne

• 7X (Empire, 1980)

With the Blue Man Group

• The Complex (Lava, 2003)

With Carla Bozulich

• The Red Headed Stranger (DiCristina Stair Builders, 2003)
• I'm Gonna Stop Killing (DiCristina Stair Builders, 2004)

With Alex Cline

• The Lamp and the Star (ECM, 1990)
• The Constant Flame (Cryptogramophone, 2001)

With the Geraldine Fibbers

• What Part of Get Thee Gone Don't You Understand? (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1997)
• Butch (Virgin, 1997)

With Firehose

• Mr. Machinery Operator (Columbia, 1993)

With John Fumo

• After the Fact (Nine Winds, 1986)

With Vinny Golia

• Openhearted (Nine Winds, 1979)
• Blood and Concrete: a Love Story (IRS, 1991)
• Against the Grain (Nine Winds, 1996)
• Razor (Nine Winds, 1996)
• A Nation of Laws (Nine Winds, 1997)
• One, Three, Two (Jazz Halo, 2003)

With Dennis González

• The Earth and the Heart (Konnex, 1991)

With Julius Hemphill

• Georgia Blue (Minor Music, 1985)

With Deborah Holland

• Freudian Slip (bugle/Dog & Pony, 1994)

With Rickie Lee Jones

• The Evening of My Best Day (V2, 2003)

With Osamu Kitajima

• Beyond the Circle (CyberOctave, 1996)

With Wayne Kramer

• Citizen Wayne (Epitaph, 1997)

With Mary Lou Lord

• Got No Shadow (Sony, 1998)

With Lydia Lunch

• Smoke in the Shadows (Atavistic, 2004)

With Wayne Peet

• Blasto! (Nine Winds, 1988)
• Live At Al's Bar (pfMentum, 2004)
• What The? (pfMentum, 2019)

With Rhythm Plague

• Dressed For The Apocalypse (Killzone Records, 1985,2017)
• Ethereal Thickness (Killzone Records, 2019)
• Heavy Buildup (Killzone Records, 2019)

With AJ Roach

• Dogwood Winter (New Folk Star, 2003)

With Rova Saxophone Quartet

• Electric Ascension (Atavistic, 2005)

With Wadada Leo Smith

• Spiritual Dimensions (Cuneiform, 2009)

With G. E. Stinson

• Vapor (Ecstatic Peace, 1999)

With Walter Thompson

• Stardate (Dane, 1980)

With Mia Doi Todd

• The Golden State (Columbia, 2002)

With Noe Venable

• The World Is Bound by Secret Knots (Petridish, 2002)

With Mike Watt

• Ball-Hog or Tugboat? (Columbia, 1995)
• Contemplating the Engine Room (Columbia, 1997)

With Alicia Bay Laurel

• What Living's All About: Jazz, Blues and Other Moist Situations (Indigo With Stars, 2006)