Jay Farrar

[Vacant Horizon]

 

tear stained eye from recent solo tour linked above. read an article over at farrar's message board that he is in full acoustic folk mode. i think you can tell by this nice, slow version of TSE. he also has a new dude playing with him. wonder if he'll join son volt?

[blureu]

Can you post the link to the article? Sounds interesting.

[Vacant Horizon]

Here's the article. I wonder when the Gob Iron II/Guthrie songs are gonna come out. Will Johnson and Jim James are supposedly involved with these.

 

 

 

MN PUBLISHED: 11/04/2010

SALLY HEDBERG

What: Jay Farrar

 

When: Nov. 5

 

Where: Turf Club

 

Cost: $16

 

 

 

In America, 20-some years ago, a group of kids made a permanent and rebellious musical mark. They defied the norms of popularity and boldly strummed into a genre where even the most brazen of punk rockers would not dare or care go: Country.

 

Their band was called Uncle Tupelo, and for a few years, content in their new creation of alternative country music, they did well. However, in an infamous feud, tensions between leading men Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy led Farrar to quit the band, thereby forcing its untimely destruction. Both sticking to their country-influenced guns in what’s been the great rock ‘n’ roll duel of our time, Tweedy started a certain Wilco, and Farrar organized the less-successful Son Volt.

 

Jay Farrar, though, is a restless man. After coming off a busy couple years that were filled with both a Son Volt album and a collaborative effort with Ben Gibbard on the soundtrack of the Jack Kerouac documentary, “One Fast Move or I’m Gone,” he’s ready for a solo tour and coincidentally, to play in Minneapolis.

 

“I guess the case and point for the current time period would be that I want to explore something different right now,” said Farrar. “The pendulum is kind of swinging in more of a folk direction.”

 

While the musician is embarking on this solo journey, the makings of a full album haven’t been completely formed yet. He’s in the early stages of writing, but not completely sure of the direction that it will take him. Farrar is certain, though, that he appreciates time on his own.

 

“I’ve been releasing albums with Son Volt for the last almost five years,” Farrar said. “I seem to fall into something that parallels what used to happen in communist countries where they would go on five-year work plans. So, I feel like I’m ready to do more solo stuff right now.”

 

Influenced by the likes of Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez, Farrar seeks to listen to as much fundamental roots music as he can, something that undoubtedly translates into the creation of his own tunes.

 

“It’s not even so much listening to that stuff,” Farrar said. “It percolates all the time, and when I pick up a guitar, that’s just where I want to go.”

 

Having played in such a significant group and projecting an extensive and intelligent respect for all of the artists who took the stage before him, it’s difficult to picture such a petty feud holding such a lasting power over Farrar. But some things just can’t be helped. Musicheads won’t be privileged to an Uncle Tupelo reunion show any time soon.

 

“It was about the time and the place,” Farrar said. “People want to see a reunion for nostalgia purposes. From my perspective, I don’t want to ever see that happen.”

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

 

tear stained eye from recent solo tour linked above. read an article over at farrar's message board that he is in full acoustic folk mode. i think you can tell by this nice, slow version of TSE. he also has a new dude playing with him. wonder if he'll join son volt?

 

I love this, I loved it 15 years ago, and I will love it 15 year from now. But Jay needs to grow.

[Vacant Horizon]

I love this, I loved it 15 years ago, and I will love it 15 year from now. But Jay needs to grow.

 

to me it doesn't seem he's going through the motions on this version. he's singing it slow and is really into it. definitely in folk mode.

 

now, as far as growing, i'm always curious what folks mean by that. jay is jay. what would grow mean? artists just can't win. they grow and they get panned for it being bad. they don't grow and they get shit for not growing. just some thoughts. what would a grown up jay farrar look like:)

[LouieB]

This has little to do with this thread other than I caught up with some of Jay's recent work lately. I bought copies of Gob Iron and One Fast Move. Both are actually pretty good, with the nod going to the Kerouac disk. Some of the material on Gob Iron is lackluster, but pleasant. One Fast Move actually has some bite. Both of these disks don't stray far from Jay's basic MO, but working with other people at least help change up these records a bit.

 

LouieB

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

to me it doesn't seem he's going through the motions on this version. he's singing it slow and is really into it. definitely in folk mode.

 

now, as far as growing, i'm always curious what folks mean by that. jay is jay. what would grow mean? artists just can't win. they grow and they get panned for it being bad. they don't grow and they get shit for not growing. just some thoughts. what would a grown up jay farrar look like:)

 

I agree with your point somewhat (witness what we see here wrt Wilco). I don't pan Jay for basically not pushing his Son Volt work. I know he has it in him from his solo releases.

There are conclusions that can be drawn from the fact that Jay felt the need to release three solo records when he basically IS Son Volt. I get the feeling that Jay has a vision for Son Volt...i just can't really get a grasp of what he is after.

[Vacant Horizon]

I agree with your point somewhat (witness what we see here wrt Wilco). I don't pan Jay for basically not pushing his Son Volt work. I know he has it in him from his solo releases.

There are conclusions that can be drawn from the fact that Jay felt the need to release three solo records when he basically IS Son Volt. I get the feeling that Jay has a vision for Son Volt...i just can't really get a grasp of what he is after.

 

okay, i see where your coming from. good points. it is interesting. those first three son volt albums was a great run. i still don't get not getting back with the boquist brothers. or at least a real country type on the lead guitar position...kind of like the dude he's playing with now:)

[Analogman]

okay, i see where your coming from. good points. it is interesting. those first three son volt albums was a great run. i still don't get not getting back with the boquist brothers. or at least a real country type on the lead guitar position...kind of like the dude he's playing with now:)

 

I believe they and Mike Heidorn had a falling out with Jay prior to the sessions for Okemah and the Melody of Riot.

[Vacant Horizon]

I believe they and Mike Heidorn had a falling out with Jay prior to the sessions for Okemah and the Melody of Riot.

 

yeah, too bad they can't work it out. i really think the 'new guys' in son volt are not more than bar bandits. just my opinion.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I believe they and Mike Heidorn had a falling out with Jay prior to the sessions for Okemah and the Melody of Riot.

 

It was after the Alejandro Escovedo benefit album and was over money.

[Vacant Horizon]

It was after the Alejandro Escovedo benefit album and was over money.

 

yeah, i heard it was over money. however, what the hell are those dudes doing? day jobs? they could play in son volt. it's more complicated that that, i know.

[Vacant Horizon]

Son Volt at the Kent Stage in Kent OH on Sunday 11/14. Just got my ticket! This is an old movie theater. I saw People Under the Stairs there when I was in college! I think it's just a 500 seat venue.

 

Last Sunday, The Autumn Defense (which was frigging AWESOME, sorry - never started and "after the show" thread) and this Sunday Son Volt.

 

i'm pretty sure this is a jay farrar solo show and not son volt. i wish jay would come down south solo.

[Vacant Horizon]

yea -- you're right. d'oh! it's been a long week! well, going anyway.

 

 

hope you have fun. i wasn't trying to correct you at all...i was just wondering if you had some info i didn't :-) i'm seeing autumn defense this week and cannot wait. second time for me.

[Analogman]

This is the set list from November 11th:

 

Down To The Wire

The Picture

Feel Free

When The Wheels Don't Move

Cocaine And Ashes

Highways And Cigarettes

Dust Of Daylight

Methamphetamine

Big Sur

Strength And Doubt

Pushed Too Far

No Turning Back

Roll On

Tear Stained Eye

San Francisco

Hanging Blue Side

Afterglow 61

Dynamite

Jukebox Of Steel

Windfall

Encore:

Out Of The Picture

Shes More To Be Pitied

Still Be Around

 

I don't think Jay changes what he plays very much, so that may be about what you heard.

[Analogman]

I think this is right:

 

Trace (1995)

Straightaways (1997)

Wide Swing Tremolo (1998)

Sebastopol (2001)

Terroir Blues (2003)

Stone, Steel & Bright Lights (2004)

Live in Seattle (2004)

Son Volt: A Retrospective: 1995-2000 (2005)

Okemah and the Melody of Riot (2005)

Death Songs for the Living (2006)

The Search (2007)

American Central Dust (2009)

One Fast Move or I'm Gone (2009)

 

I'd stick with the first four releases from the above list.

[Vacant Horizon]

This is the set list from November 11th:

 

 

 

I don't think Jay changes what he plays very much, so that may be about what you heard.

 

 

Hanging Blue Side!

[Mr. Heartbreak]

So I've got nothing from Afterglow 61 through The Search. Any recommendations? (Disclaimer: I believe I was underwhelmed by American Central Dust, because I apparently bought it from Amazon but don't remember listening to it. Heh.)

[Vacant Horizon]

Well, Okemah is more of a classic sounding son volt album. the search is a different animal. really good songs, some experimental songs, keyboards, horns, and more of a compressed sound. it's also less concise than previous SV releases. it has what i consider one of jay's classics, Methamphetamine. up there with Tear Stained Eye.

 

i really liked American Central Dust.

 

love your comment about amazon. i've looked at my buying history and am surprised all the time. "I bought that!"

[brianjeremy]

I love Okemah and ACD - both are great. The Search is different and I agree with Vacant Horizons: Methamphetamine is one of the best songs he's written!

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I will have to check out Okemah for sure. I think I tried listening to it at the store when it came out, and was just not in the right mood for it. But I sort of have to be in a certain frame of mind to listen to Jay in the first place, so I really should give some of these later releases a chance.

 

Thank you both for the input.