Son Volt
is an alternative country group formed by Jay Farrar in 1994 after the breakup of the band Uncle Tupelo.
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SON VOLT TICKETS
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History
The group formed after Farrar met Jim and Dave Boquist during the final Uncle Tupelo tour. Together with former Uncle Tupelo drummer Mike Heidorn, the band rehearsed and recorded in the Minneapolis area in late 1994. The group performed its first concert at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on June 16, 1995. While half of the band was rooted in the Minneapolis area, Farrar and Heidorn lived in the St. Louis area, and the band used both cities as bases for its operations during the first couple of years.
Hiatus and return
Son Volt was dropped from their record label contract with Warner Bros. Records, and announced a hiatus after their 1999 tour. Beginning in 2001, Jay Farrar released several solo efforts that postponed further releases from Son Volt. Farrar reformed with the original members of Son Volt to record a song for a tribute album for
Alejandro Escovedo. The sessions reportedly went so well that Farrar and the other band members intended to record once again in the autumn of 2004. Just prior to the sessions, however, negotiations with the other band members apparently reached a standstill when they refused to show up to the planned recording session that Farrar had arranged. Having already booked studio time, Farrar formed a new version of the band with a different line-up and released an album on Transmit Sound/Sony Legacy,
Okemah and the Melody of Riot
.
[1], in 2005. 2006 saw the release of a live CD and DVD called
Six String Belief.
In 2007 the band released a studio album called
The Search.
A new Son Volt album,
American Central Dust
, was released by Rounder Records on July 7, 2009.
[2]
Music
Son Volt's music ranges from quiet
folk/
country ballads reminiscent of
Bob Dylan's
John Wesley Harding
, to barhouse rockers in the spirit of
Neil Young with
Crazy Horse. Outside of the common
Neil Young and
Crazy Horse comparisons, Son Volt is often compared to
The Jayhawks, The Gear Daddies and
Automatic for the People
era
R.E.M.. Often considered a staple band of the
alternative country movement, their music is perhaps better described as genre-spanning
traditional American music.
Son Volt's first album,
Trace
, met with critical acclaim and topped many "best-of" lists in 1995, despite not being a large commercial success. Two follow-up albums (1997's
Straightaways
and 1998's
Wide Swing Tremolo
) continued in the same vein.
A Retrospective: 1995-2000
, released in 2005, gathered highlights from this era, along with previously unreleased recordings.
Members
Current members
- Jay Farrar (guitar, harmonica, vocals), formerly of Uncle Tupelo
- Dave Bryson (drums)
- Andrew Duplantis (bass guitar, backing vocals)
- Chris Masterson (lead guitar)
- Mark Spencer (keyboards, steel guitar)
The new Son Volt line-up began touring March 26, 2007, in support of their album 'The Search,' which was released March 6, 2007 on Transmit Sound/Legacy. Credits for the new album include Jay Farrar (vocal, guitar, piano), Dave Bryson (drums), Derry deBorja (keyboards), Andrew Duplantis (bass, backing vocals) and Brad Rice (guitar). Bryson and Duplantis played with the Meat Puppets, first as the Royal Neanderthal Orchestra. Lead guitarist and former member of Jack Ingram's band Chris Masterson replaces Brad Rice as the touring guitarist on the 2007 tour.
Mark Spencer, formerly of Blood Oranges and the touring guitarist for many Jay Farrar solo shows, joined Son Volt in 2008 as a keyboardist and steel guitar player.
Former members
- Derry deBorja (keyboards)
- Brad Rice (guitar)
- Mike Heidorn (drums), formerly of Uncle Tupelo
- Dave Boquist (banjo, fiddle, guitar, lap steel)
- Jim Boquist (bass guitar)
- Eric Heywood (mandolin, pedal steel)
Discography
- Trace
(1995), Warner Bros. Records #166 (US)
- Straightaways
(1997), Warner Bros. Records #44 (US)
- Wide Swing Tremolo
(1998), Warner Bros. Records #93 (US)
- A Retrospective: 1995-2000
(2005), Warner Bros. Records/Rhino
- Afterglow 61
(2005) EP, Transmit Sounds Records/Legacy Recordings
- Okemah and the Melody of Riot
(2005), Transmit Sounds Records/Legacy Recordings #89 (US)
- The Search
(March 2007), Transmit Sounds Records/Legacy Recordings #81 (US)
- American Central Dust
(July 2009), Rounder Records #44 (US)
See also
- List of bands from St. Louis
References
- NPR.org. Son Volt Is Back: ''Okemah and the Melody of Riot''. Retrieved Nov. 7, 2007.
- See the band's website.