Jay Farrar and Son Volt are reuniting for a new album and tour:
Roots-rock outfit Son Volt has reunited and is about to begin work on a new studio album.
Group members Jay Farrar, Dave and Jim Boquist and Mike Heidorn recently ended a five-year hiatus to record a track for the Alejandro Escovedo (news) tribute album, "Por Vida." The group is planning to return to the road next year.
"It felt like we hit the ground running," Farrar says. "Five years seemed like five days at that point. It proved that more recording and performing as Son Volt is something that should happen."
Son Volt's last studio album was 1998's "Wide Swing Tremolo," which peaked at No. 93 on the Billboard 200. Farrar's most recent solo release was the live collection "Stone, Steel & Bright Lights," issued in June on his own Transmit Sound label.
Nice to hear, but I'm not really that excited by the news, frankly. I said somewhere, sometime, that Jay Farrar was one of the best at what he does, but what he does isn't very fresh or original. Don't get me wrong, there are fantastic songs on Trace and Wide Swing Tremolo, but they all tend to sound the same. Unlike Wilco, the band helmed by Farrar's Uncle Tupelo bandmate Jeff Tweedy, Son Volt doesn't seem very interested in evolving or experimenting musically. Not to say I want them to start sounding like Death Cab for Cutie, but stretching themselves once in a while couldn't hurt.
And certainly any new album by a band not associated with the new wimp punk movement, jailbait divas, or Nashville is a good thing. I just don't think I'm as jonesed about it as some people are.
Ummm,that should be "they're".
Damn.
Peenman's 2nd post prompts me to register a long standing complaint with the management: why can't we edit our comments after they've been posted?
That's what the "Preview" button's for, you crybabies.
The preview button sucks. It just let's me see what my ramblings will look like once posted. And since I can already see what I'm typing as I type it, that feature adds little. It does not, however, let me edit, add, or retract anything once I hit that "post" button.
Hey, if it's not an option for commenters, no biggy. But if were something that could be added with little or no hassle/expense, I think it would be a nice upgrade to an otherwise solid blog. It's just a constructive suggestion. Feel free to take it or leave it.
No take-backs.
Or someone needs to learn to spell.
(I keed, I keed!)
I'm with you. Son Volt doesn't really draw attention to itself. A fact that will probably be the cause of its downfall. Still, as quasi-background music goes, it is excellent quasi-background music. It certainly takes the edge off after an argument with the boss or a twenty minute traffic jam.
I'm glad to hear their back in the studio.