I did not see music in Austin the past 2 weeks because I hit the road to see Phish’s Festival 8 Halloween concert in Indio, California.. where they played all 18 songs of The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street as a musical costume, with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings to boot..)....
In the early 90’s, I was allergic to any music that had a remote trace of country in it (except bluegrass). This is why, if I had come across Uncle Tupelo, I would have walked right by. Jay Farrar’s subsequent band Sun Volt didn’t cross my ears until a later time, when I was a much more evolved human being. I instantly liked them. I’m walking upright now, and even eating with a spoon and a fork.
I heard Son Volt (St. Louis, MO) here and there over the years. I never ran out to buy albums, but by the time I stepped back into the DJ booth in 2007, I found myself reaching for their latest album at the time, The Search. By the time American Central Dust came out in ’09, I was in full dig. It is so apparent that this band keeps getting better and that Farrar’s songwriting is honing in on itself—in a good way.
I didn’t realize, until I saw them live, that the pull of Jay Farrar’s songwriting is what hooks me—especially his delivery-- and the carefully grown blend of rock and twang keeps me. He’s got a perfectly even-keeled voice that rarely fluctuates with emotion, and before seeing the band, I suspected he barely opened his mouth while singing.. and I was right. There is no shame in this style. I consider it signature. Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo would be (or would have been) different bands with a different sound, and music history might have been a little different and lacking, if Farrar reached deep into his diaphragm, belted the shit out operatically. As it stands, his singing, while hinting at nasal, has the plea of a whine but can qualify as a non-desperate moan. I love it. I really do love it..
And I didn’t realize, until I saw them, how wholly Jay Farrar’s songwriting is at the center of the band. Sun Volt is not a jam band (although they can jam) or the average rock band (although they can rock) or a concept band (if they were.. I’d take votes on what the concept is). Sun Volt’s stage presence made it very clear for me: Farrar on an acoustic guitar in the center, Chris Masterson on electric guitar to his right and Mark Spencer on steel guitar to his left (sometimes on keys). The musicians around Jay Farrar (including Andrew Duplantis on bass and Dave Bryson on drums) have perfected their ability to converse, at times thickly escalating into a climax post- or mid-song, while keeping Farrar’s songs at center. The blend of country and rock rhythms, the sometimes backing vocals and harmonica, the blend of the oft-polarized electric rock guitar and crying steel guitar provides a comfortable dialectic to the ear. (And of course Uncle Tupelo is much to thank for this as well.) I can’t stress enough how well Son Volt subtly blends the guitars of two genres (rock, country) into one smooth signature sound—all swimming in and out and around Farrar’s songs. Sometimes the needle tips more to one genre or the other, but the ongoing multi-layered give-and take is too masterfully cultivated at this point to assign a genre title to any one song. Progressive indie songwriting country rock. Yeah, that’s it.
And Farrar’s poetry—it’s there—it’s in there.. I can’t make out most of the words because he won’t open his dang mouth.. but I’m not complaining-- I’m curious. It’s his job to keep singing with his mouth practically shut and my job to open the liner notes to the albums.....
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