After the demise of Uncle Tupelo, the strong willed Jay Farrar formed the alternative country band, Son Volt, going on to release numerous albums that received strong critical acclaim. Their live performances are packed with a strong sense of energy containing gritty guitar licks and raw, raspy singing.
Son Volt took the Bob Dylan, folk like influence that Uncle Tupelo was so great at creating and turned it into a more energetic and distorted representation of traditional American music. At times their music is forceful and direct with crunchy, distorted guitar licks blaring through their amps, but at other times they play beautiful folk ballads with gently plucked melodies on the acoustic guitar, which is conveyed on their song “Tear Stained Eye”. They also incorporate other traditional folk instruments into their music such as the fiddle, banjo, and slide guitar.
Through their softest songs they come close to encompassing the sound of Bob Dylan and while they are at their most gritty they come close to the sounds of Neil Young. Their guitars often resonate through the venue with a country twang and Jay Farrar’s raw vocal delivery gives his music a sincere element that sinks right into the heart. Jay Farrar also takes interesting approaches to his songwriting by tuning his guitar in alternate tunings to get really open sounds on his guitar. Although Son Volt never quite gained the commercial success they deserved, they are well respected by critics and fans.
Its hard not to be impressed at a Son Volt concert, seeing Jay Farrar play his music with such precision, singing with his raw, captivating voice, and blowing hauntingly, beautiful melodies into his harmonica. Son Volt’s setlists are also quite pleasing, covering many of their hit songs as well as some covers from Uncle Tupelo’s catalog like “Grindstone” and “Chickamauga”.
LCD Soundsystem
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