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Led by vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter
Jay Farrar,
Son Volt became one of the leading bands in the alternative country community, attracting critical praise and an audience that was loyal if not always large. Dominated by
Farrar's commanding and resonant vocals, his
Neil Young-influenced lead guitar work, and a lyrical and melodic palette that took a rueful look at the changing American landscape,
Son Volt made a striking debut with 1995's
Trace, whose patchwork of contemplative quiet numbers and anthemic rockers would set the template for the group's best work.
Farrar put the group on hiatus in 1999, returning with a new lineup but a familiar musical approach on 2005's
Okemah and the Melody of Riot.
Farrar later experimented with the blues on 2017's
Notes of Blue before moving into explicitly political themes on 2019's
Union and 2021's Electro Melodier.
Jay Farrar first made an impression on music fans as the co-founder, with
Jeff Tweedy, of seminal alt-country group
Uncle Tupelo. After touring in support of their 1993 masterpiece
Anodyne,
Uncle Tupelo split up over long-simmering creative differences between
Farrar and
Tweedy.
Tweedy recruited much of the band's final lineup to form
Wilco, while
Farrar teamed up with original
Tupelo drummer
Mike Heidorn to form
Son Volt, the more traditionally minded of the two
Tupelo offshoots. Joined by brothers
Jim Boquist (bass) and
Dave Boquist (guitar, fiddle, banjo, fiddle, steel guitar), the band signed to Warner Bros. and released its debut album,
Trace, in 1995. It was greeted with excellent reviews from most critics, offering a set of stark, subtle, mostly downbeat songs that drew from traditional country, folk, and roots rock. The single "Drown" was successful on both college and rock radio, and the band subsequently added unofficial fifth member
Eric Heywood on mandolin and pedal steel for its second album, 1997's
Straightaways.
While
Straightaways mined stylistic territory similar to
Trace, it wasn't as dynamic or engaging and not as celebrated by the press, and although 1998's
Wide Swing Tremolo was a noticeably harder-rocking affair, the erosion of critical support for the group continued. After touring behind
Wide Swing Tremolo,
Son Volt went on hiatus in 1999, though they refused to call it a breakup.
Farrar debuted as a solo artist with the 2001 album
Sebastopol, and released two more solo albums in 2003 (
Terroir Blues) and 2004 (
Stone, Steel & Bright Lights). In 2005, Rhino issued a
Son Volt collection,
Retrospective: 1995-2000, which lent weight to the belief that the group had called it a day. But
Son Volt weren't over, and
Farrar revived the nameplate in July 2005 with a new edition of the group. For the album
Okemah and the Melody of Riot, recorded in St. Louis and released by the Sony imprint Legacy Recordings,
Farrar was joined by drummer
Dave Bryson, bassist
Andrew Duplantis, and ex-
Backsliders guitarist
Brad Rice.
The Search followed in early 2007, followed by
American Central Dust in 2009, the group's first release for the venerable roots music label Rounder Records.
American Central Dust also debuted a new
Son Volt lineup, with
Farrar joined by
Chris Masterson on guitar,
Mark Spencer on steel guitar and keyboards, and the previous rhythm section of
Duplantis and
Bryson.
Honky Tonk, a sort of homage to the Bakersfield country sound full of pedal steel guitars and twin fiddles, arrived early in 2013.
In 2015, Rhino Records marked the 20th anniversary of the release of
Trace with an expanded and remastered edition of the album, including
Farrar's original songwriting demos for the record and tracks from a
Son Volt concert recorded in New York City in February 1996.
Farrar supported the re-release with a solo tour in which he performed the album's songs in full.
Farrar reconvened
Son Volt in 2016 to record a new long-player,
Notes of Blue, which was released in February 2017. The album, in which the bandmembers indulged their taste for classic blues music, was released by
Farrar's Transmit Sound label through a distribution deal with Thirty Tigers.
Notes of Blue also saw more personnel changes for
Son Volt, featuring
Farrar,
Spencer (this time on bass, side guitar, and piano), fiddler Gary Hunt, pedal steel player Jason Kardong, and drummer
Jacob Edwards.
In 2018,
Farrar delivered expanded editions of
Okemah and the Melody of Riot and
The Search through Transmit Sound, and March 2019 brought the album
Union, whose songs dealt with the economic and political malaise of the American working class. For this project, the
Son Volt lineup was
Farrar on vocals and guitars,
Chris Frame on guitars,
Andrew Duplantis on bass,
Mark Spencer on keyboards, lap steel, and acoustic slide guitar, and
Mark Patterson on drums. The group's tenth full-length, Electro Melodier, arrived in July 2021 and featured a guest appearance by singer
Laura Cantrell. ~ Steve Huey & Mark Deming