I reluctantly ventured out into the cold at the tail end of a nice cozy weekend indoors to see a Jeff Tweedy solo show, and was completely won over by his charming, funny stage manner and great performance.

After the split of Uncle Tupelo way back when, I was a strong Jay Farrar supporter and a reluctant Tweedy fan. AM was pleasant, Being There an indulgent bore and Summerteeth an oddly cold stab at power pop. Not until Yankee Hotel Foxtrot did I hear something that really clicked. A Ghost is Born, though critically slagged as being a less-satisfying follow up, is my favorite in the band's catalog for its mix of experimental boundary-pushing, creaky folk fingerpicking and unabashed pop catchiness. I've since gone back to Being There and Summerteeth to find things I like, though neither holds up as a complete album to my ears.

It was from that place that I took in Tweedy's show. In the past he has been criticized, fairly, I think, for a prickly attitude from the stage, but he clearly has learned how to enjoy himself and by extension entertain a crowd. He was quick-witted, self-effacing and responsive. He credited part of that to the reverent hush of the crowd -- which he in turn credited to the lack of alcohol at this university venue.

Hearing the songs in this stripped down format, I was struck by how much his music is influenced by the so-called American Primitives led by John Fahey. Maybe that rubbed off on him from Jim O'Rourke, whose solo albums on Drag City in the late 1990s were loving tributes to Fahey's guitar stylings. Much is made of the seeming influence Fahey has on the likes of M. Ward and Devendra Banhart, but Tweedy is perhaps Fahey's clearest antecedent, taking that guitar style and lovingly messing with it through studio manipulations. Strip away those touches, and you're left with some gorgeously shambling folk songs. In fact, I can pinpoint the start of my interest in Tweedy -- seeing him and O'Rourke and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche (before he was in the band) performing at the Chicago Noise Pop Festival in 2000. That set, recorded subsequently in the studio, essentially became the first Loose Fur record. Soon, O'Rourke was on board as the YHF producer and Wilco's sound changed for the better as Tweedy began an exploration of sound that continues today.

Highlights of last night's set included surprisingly deft versions of "Muzzle of Bees" and "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," a new song he says he wrote for Solomon Burke (who, from the sound of things, chose not to record it) called "The Thanks I Get," and a set-closing version of "Acuff-Rose" sung from the edge of the stage without the PA. Kotche, who opened the show with an interesting but overlong set of instrument percussion tracks, played the encore set, adding propulsion to Loose Fur's "Laminated Cat" (Not for the Season), "War on War," "A Shot in the Arm," "The Late Greats" and "I'm the Man Who Loves You."