* En anglais uniquement
Gob Iron is a collaboration between two of the more forward-thinking figures in the alt-country movement,
Uncle Tupelo and
Son Volt founder
Jay Farrar, and
Anders Parker of
Varnaline. With a similar interest in atmospheric guitar-based music and songs that embraces the lesson of folk and country while staking out new sonic territory at the same time,
Farrar and
Parker would seem to be kindred spirits, and the two men's creative paths first crossed when
Parker opened an acoustic tour for
Farrar in 2001. The two musicians stayed in touch, and
Farrar lent his guitar work to
Parker's 2004 solo album
Tell It to the Dust, as well as
Parker's 2005 EP
The Wounded Astronaut. In the fall of 2004,
Farrar approached
Parker about contributing to the first album from his new edition of
Son Volt,
Okemah and the Melody of Riot; while
Parker ultimately didn't appear on the album, during pre-production the two recorded a handful of idiosyncratic interpretations of traditional folk tunes, with the two musicians often reworking the lyrics or melodies to reflect their own musical vision, and each tackling a number of different instruments in the studio. In 2006,
Farrar and
Parker returned to their folk song project, which they dubbed
Gob Iron, after a British slang name for a harmonica. The debut
Gob Iron album,
Death Songs for the Living, was drawn primarily from the material
Farrar and
Parker recorded in 2004; it was released on Halloween 2006, with the duo setting out on a tour to support the record. ~ Mark Deming