Hard-rocking renaissance man Jon Langford tears it up. Photo courtesy Bloodshot Records.

In a fairer, better world, Jon Langford would need no introduction; in a world that makes Kenny Chesney a country star, he probably does. (Unless, of course, you read our interview with Langford last fall.) So: Since founding the protean punk outfit the Mekons in Leeds, England, three decades or so ago, he’s become that Godfather of the Chicago alt-country scene that flowered in the mid-to-late 1990s, as well as a celebrated painter. (That’s his portrait of Buddy Guy on the wall at the Birchmere. You can see it, along with 214 of his other objets d’arte, in his 2006 book, Nashville Radio.)

Of his many bands, the Waco Brothers have proven second only to the Mekons in their staying power. The brash cow-punk outfit he assembled in the Windy City after emigrating there from Leeds in 1991 includes players from bands (past and present) as diverse as KMFDM, Jesus Jones, and the Rumour. Their fierce attack reminds you that the Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three of Johnny Cash at San Quentin was closer to a punk band than to most of what’s called country nowadays, and there’s an unsubtle, unapologetic leftist agitprop to their oft-hilarious lyrics — think Billy Bragg without the pomposity. We’ve said it before: Country music sounds pretty good sung in a Leeds accent.

The Wacos have just released their first official live album, Waco Express: Live and Kickin’ at Schuba’s Tavern, recorded at the storied Chicago venue. They play the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight. DCist spoke with Langford in New York City on Tuesday morning.

The Wacos just got around to putting out a live album, after a dozen or so years of being called a quintessential bar band. Why wait so long to do a live record, and why now?

We write a lot of songs, so we’re always chomping at the bit to try and make a studio album. This time, we’ve kind of got a studio album in the can, but every time we put out a studio album it’s reviewed just like our first release. It usually says we don’t capture our live sound. [Laughs.]

Also, we were thinking of doing a best-of. And it seemed like, if we were going to do a best-of, why don’t we just do it live? That’s kind of our natural habitat.