# Nels Cline

Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004.
In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has worked with musicians in punk and alternative rock such as Carla Bozulich and the Geraldine Fibbers, 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.

## Career

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.

## Personal life

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.

## Discography
### As leader

| Year | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
| 1981 | Elegies | Nine Winds | with Eric von Essen |
| 1988 | Angelica | Enja | |
| 1992 | Silencer | Enja | |
| 1995 | Ground | Krown Pocket | |
| 1996 | Chest | Little Brother | |
| 1997 | Pillow Wand | Little Brother | with Thurston Moore |
| 1997 | In-Store | Father Yod/W.D.T.C.H.C. | with Thurston Moore |
| 1998 | Rise Pumpkin Rise | Volvolo | with Devin Sarno |
| 1998 | Sad | Little Brother | |
| 1999 | Interstellar Space Revisited | Atavistic | with Gregg Bendian |
| 2000 | The Inkling | Cryptogramophone | |
| 2000 | Destroy All Nels Cline | Atavistic | |
| 2002 | Instrumentals | Cryptogramophone | |
| 2004 | Ash and Tabula | Atavistic | with Andrea Parkins & Tom Rainey |
| 2004 | The Entire Time | Nine Winds | with Vinny Golia |
| 2004 | Buried On Bunker Hill | Ground Fault | with Devin Sarno |
| 2004 | Graduation | free103point9 | with Chris Corsano & Carlos Giffoni |
| 2004 | The Giant Pin | Cryptogramophone | |
| 2005 | Banning + Center | Experimental Music Research | with Jeremy Drake |
| 2005 | Immolation & Immersion | Strange Attractors | with Wally Shoup & Chris Corsano |
| 2006 | Four Guitars Live | Important | with Ranaldo, Giffoni, & Moore |
| 2006 | New Monastery | Cryptogramophone | |
| 2007 | Draw Breath | Cryptogramophone | |
| 2007 | Suite: Bittersweet | Strange Attractors | with Wally Shoup & Greg Campbell |
| 2007 | Downpour | Victo | with Andrea Parkins & Tom Rainey |
| 2007 | Duo Milano | Long Song | with Elliott Sharp |
| 2007 | Nothing Makes Any Sense | No Fun | with Giffoni Licht Ranaldo |
| 2009 | Coward | Cryptogramophone | |
| 2009 | Elevating Device | Sounds Are Active | with G.E. Stinson |
| 2010 | Dirty Baby | Cryptogramophone | |
| 2010 | The Celestial Septet | New World | |
| 2010 | Initiate | Cryptogramophone | |
| 2012 | Jazz Free | There | with Henry Kaiser |
| 2012 | Open the Door | Public Eyesore | with Elliott Sharp |
| 2012 | The Gowanus Session | Porter | with Thollem & Parker |
| 2014 | Room | Mack Avenue | with Julian Lage |
| 2014 | Macroscope | Mack Avenue | |
| 2015 | Radical Empathy | Relative Pitch | with Thollem & Wimberly |
| 2016 | Molecular Affinity | Roaratorio | with Thollem & Oliveros |
| 2016 | Lovers | Blue Note | |
| 2018 | Currents, Constellations | Blue Note | |
| 2020 | Gowanus Sessions II | ESP Disk | with Thollem & Parker |
| 2020 | Share the Wealth | Blue Note | |
| 2025 | Consentrik Quartet | Blue Note | with Laubrock, Lightcap & Rainey |
With Acoustic Guitar Trio
| Year | Title | Label |
| 2001 | Acoustic Guitar Trio | Incus |
| 2009 | Vignes | Long Song |
With Banyan
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1997 | Banyan | CyberOctave |
| 1999 | Anytime at All | CyberOctave |
| 2004 | Live at Perkins' Palace | Sanctuary |
With Quartet Music
| Year | Title | Label |
| 1981 | Quartet Music | Nine Winds |
| 1984 | Ocean Park | Nine Winds |
| 1986 | Window On the Lake | Nine Winds |
| 1989 | Summer Night | Delos |
With Wilco
| Year | Title | Label |
| 2005 | Kicking Television: Live in Chicago | Nonesuch |
| 2007 | Sky Blue Sky | Nonesuch |
| 2009 | Wilco (The Album) | Nonesuch |
| 2011 | The Whole Love | dBpm |
| 2014 | Alpha Mike Foxtrot | Nonesuch |
| 2015 | Star Wars | dBpm |
| 2016 | Schmilco | dBpm |
| 2019 | Ode to Joy | dBpm |
| 2022 | Cruel Country | dBpm |
| 2023 | Cousin | dBpm |
With other bands
| Year | Artist | Title | Label |
| 1985 | Rhythm Plague | Dressed for the Apocalypse | Killzone Music |
| 1991 | Bloc | In the Free Zone | A&M |
| 1995 | Geraldine Fibbers | Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home | Virgin/Universal |
| 1996 | A Thousand Other Names | A Thousand Other Names | Birdcage |
| 1997 | Geraldine Fibbers | Butch | Virgin |
| 2005 | Rova::Orkestrova | Electric Ascension | Atavistic |
| 2005 | Solo Career | Season Finale | Box-o-Plenty |
| 2006 | Damsel | Distressed Temporary | Temporary Residence |
| 2009 | West Coast Modern Day Punk Rock Orchestra | Correspondence | Elastic |
| 2010 | Floored by Four | Floored by Four | Chimera Music |
| 2010 | Rova | The Celestial Septet | New World |
| 2011 | bb&c | The Veil | Cryptogramophone |
| 2016 | Rova Channeling Coltrane | Electric Ascension & Cleaning the Mirror | RogueArt |
| 2017 | Big Walnuts Yonder | Big Walnuts Yonder | Sargent House |
| 2019 | Cup | Spinning Creature | Northern Spy |
| 2019 | Exoterm | Exits into a Corridor | Hubro |
| 2019 | Radical Empathy Trio, | Reality and Other Imaginary Places | ESP Disk |
| 2017 | Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York | Fukushima | Libra |
| 2019 | Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York | Entity | Libra |
| 2019 | Stretch Woven | Stretch Woven | Alstro |

### As sideman

| Year | Main Artist | Title | Label |
| 1979 | Vinny Golia | Openhearted | Nine Winds |
| 1980 | Tim Berne | 7X | Empire |
| 1984 | Julius Hemphill | Georgia Blue | Minor Music |
| 1986 | John Fumo | After the Fact | Nine Winds |
| 1991 | Dennis Gonzalez | The Earth and the Heart | Konnex |
| 1993 | Firehose | Mr. Machinery Operator | Columbia |
| 1993 | Vinny Golia | Against the Grain | Nine Winds |
| 1994 | Deborah Holland | Freudian Slip | Dog & Pony |
| 1995 | Vinny Golia | Razor | Nine Winds |
| 1995 | Mike Watt | Ball-Hog or Tugboat? | Columbia |
| 1995 | Mike Watt | Big Train | Columbia |
| 1996 | Gregg Bendian | Gregg Bendian's Interzone | Eremite |
| 1996 | Osamu Kitajima | Beyond the Circle | CyberOctave |
| 1996 | Joel Harrison | 3 + 3 = 7 | Nine Winds |
| 1997 | Vinny Golia | Nation of Laws | Nine Winds |
| 1997 | Mike Watt | Contemplating the Engine Room | Columbia |
| 1997 | Wayne Kramer | Citizen Wayne | Epitaph |
| 1998 | Henry Kaiser & Wadada Leo Smith | Yo Miles! | Shanachie |
| 1998 | Mary Lou Lord | Got No Shadow | Work |
| 2000 | Gregg Bendian | Myriad | Atavistic |
| 2001 | Gregg Bendian | Requiem for Jack Kirby | Atavistic |
| 2001 | Alex Cline | The Constant Flame | Cryptogramophone |
| 2001 | Steuart Liebig | Pomegranate | Cryptogramophone |
| 2002 | Jeff Gauthier | Mask | Cryptogramophone |
| 2002 | Mia Doi Todd | The Golden State | Columbia |
| 2003 | Carla Bozulich | Red Headed Stranger | Dicristina Stair Builders |
| 2003 | Rickie Lee Jones | The Evening of My Best Day | V2 |
| 2003 | Noe Venable | The World Is Bound by Secret Knots | Petridish |
| 2003 | John Zorn | Voices in the Wilderness | Tzadik |
| 2003 | Scott Amendola | Cry | Cryptogramophone |
| 2004 | Vinny Golia | One Three Two | Nine Winds |
| 2004 | Blue Man Group | The Complex | Lava |
| 2004 | Carla Bozulich | I'm Gonna Stop Killing | DiCristina Stair Builders |
| 2004 | Lydia Lunch | Smoke in the Shadows | Breakin Beats |
| 2005 | Dean De Benedictis | Salvaging the Past | Spotted Peccary |
| 2005 | Wayne Peet | Live at Al's Bar | pfMENTUM |
| 2005 | Scott Amendola | Believe | Cryptogramophone |
| 2006 | Jeff Gauthier | One and the Same | Cryptogramophone |
| 2006 | The Autumn Defense | The Autumn Defense | Broken Horse |
| 2006 | Ramblin' Jack Elliott | I Stand Alone | Anti- |
| 2006 | Matt Ellis | Tell the People | Krow Pie |
| 2006 | Todd Sickafoose | Blood Orange | Secret Hatch |
| 2006 | Jeff Tweedy | Sunken Treasure | Nonesuch |
| 2007 | Eleni Mandell | Miracle of Five | Zedtone |
| 2007 | Alan Pasqua | The Antisocial Club | Cryptogramophone |
| 2007 | M. Ward | To Go Home | 4AD |
| 2008 | Steven Bernstein | Diaspora Suite | Tzadik |
| 2008 | Huntsville | Eco, Arches & Eras | Rune Grammofon |
| 2008 | Jeff Gauthier | House of Return | Cryptogramophone |
| 2009 | 7 Worlds Collide | The Sun Came Out | Oxfam/Sony |
| 2009 | Bobb Bruno | Dreamt On | Vosotros |
| 2009 | Wadada Leo Smith | Spiritual Dimensions | Cuneiform |
| 2011 | Tinariwen | Tassili | V2 |
| 2011 | Jeff Gauthier | Open Source | Cryptogramophone |
| 2012 | Jherek Bischoff | Composed | Brassland |
| 2012 | Jherek Bischoff | Scores: Composed Instrumentals | Leaf |
| 2012 | Billy Bragg & Wilco | Mermaid Avenue Vol. III | Nonesuch |
| 2012 | Lee Ranaldo | Between the Times and the Tides | Matador |
| 2012 | Martha Wainwright | Come Home to Mama | Cooperative Music |
| 2012 | Rufus Wainwright | Out of the Game | Decca |
| 2013 | Ben Goldberg | Unfold Ordinary Mind | BAG |
| 2013 | Yoko Ono | Take Me to the Land of Hell | Chimera Music |
| 2013 | Retribution Gospel Choir | 3 | Chaperone |
| 2014 | Buffalo Daughter | Konjac-Tion | U/M/A/A |
| 2014 | Bobby Previte | Terminals | Cantaloupe Music |
| 2014 | Jim Keller | Heaven Can Wait | Elisha James/Orange Mountain |
| 2014 | Cibo Matto | Hotel Valentine | Chimera Music |
| 2014 | Medeski Martin & Wood | Woodstock Sessions Vol. 2 | Woodstock Sessions |
| 2015 | Adam Rudolph | Turning Towards the Light | Cuneiform |
| 2015 | Scott Amendola | Fade to Orange | Sazi |
| 2015 | Ben Goldberg | Orphic Machine | BAG |
| 2016 | Ornette Coleman | Celebrate Ornette | Song X |
| 2017 | Jim Campilongo | Live at Rockwood Music Hall NYC | Blue Hen |
| 2017 | Linda Perhacs | I'm A Harmony | Omnivore |
| 2017 | Lee Ranaldo | Electric Trim | Mute |
| 2018 | Harmony Rockets | Lachesis & Clotho & Atropos | Tompkins Square |
| 2018 | Michael Leonhart | The Painted Lady Suite | Sunnyside |
| 2018 | Bobby Previte | Rhapsody | RareNoise |
| 2018 | Chris Lightcap | Superette | Royal Potato Family |
| 2019 | Ben Goldberg | Good Day for Cloud Fishing | Pyroclastic |
| 2019 | Kris Davis | Diatom Ribbons | Pyroclastic |
| 2019 | Michael Leonhart | Suite Extracts Vol.1 | Sunnyside |
| 2019 | Larry Ochs | What Is to Be Done | Clean Feed |
| 2019 | Wayne Peet | What The? | pfMENTUM |
| 2019 | Chris Stamey | New Songs for the 20th Century | Omnivore |
| 2019 | Tedeschi Trucks Band | Beacon Bits 2019 | Nugs.net |
| 2020 | Bobby Previte | Music from the Early 21st Century | RareNoise |
| 2021 | Julius Hemphill | The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony | New World |