Jay Farrar (born December 26, 1966) is an American songwriter and musician currently based in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. A member of two critically acclaimed music groups,
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend c ...
and
Son Volt
Son Volt is an American rock band formed in 1994 by Jay Farrar after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo. The band's current line-up consists of Farrar (vocals, guitar), Andrew DuPlantis (bass guitar), John Horton (guitar), Mark Patterson (drums), and Ma ...
, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his established talents as a songwriter, he is a guitarist, pianist, harmonicist, and a vocalist.
Uncle Tupelo
Farrar formed
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend c ...
with
Jeff Tweedy
Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, started his music career in high s ...
and
Mike Heidorn
Mike Heidorn, born 1967 in Belleville, Illinois, is the former drummer and founding member of alternative country bands Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt. Heidorn also played with the Uncle Tupelo precursors the Primitives (or ) and the one-off band Co ...
in 1987 after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primatives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville Records, before signing with Sire Records and expanding to a five-piece. Shortly after the release of the band's major label debut album
''Anodyne'', Farrar announced his decision to leave the band owing to a soured relationship with his co-songwriter Tweedy.
Son Volt
After the dissolution of
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend c ...
in 1994, Farrar formed the rock group
Son Volt
Son Volt is an American rock band formed in 1994 by Jay Farrar after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo. The band's current line-up consists of Farrar (vocals, guitar), Andrew DuPlantis (bass guitar), John Horton (guitar), Mark Patterson (drums), and Ma ...
, whose original lineup released three albums in the late 1990s, before undergoing a hiatus in 1999. In 1999, Farrar was invited to participate in the
tribute album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
for
Moby Grape
Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...
co-founder
Skip Spence
Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence (April 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999) was a Canadian-born American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was co-founder of Moby Grape, and played guitar with them until 1969. In the same year, he released his only s ...
, who was terminally ill with cancer. The album, ''
More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album '' (
Birdman, 1999), was an album of
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of the songs on Spence's only solo album, ''
Oar
An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Rowers grasp the oar at the other end.
The difference between oars and paddles is that oars are used exclusively for rowing. In rowing the oar is connecte ...
'' (
Columbia, 1999). In 2005, the band re-formed with a different lineup and has since released seven additional albums.
Other
In 1995, Farrar collaborated with Kelly Willis on the song "Rex's Blues", which appeared on the
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
benefit album
Red Hot + Bothered produced by the
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.
Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...
.
As a solo artist, Farrar has released two full-length albums, two EPs, one film score, and various live recordings. His full-length albums are ''
Sebastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
'' (2001) and ''
Terroir Blues
Jay Farrar (born December 26, 1966) is an American songwriter and musician currently based in St. Louis. A member of two critically acclaimed music groups, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his establis ...
'' (2003), the first released on the
independent record label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
Artemis Records and the second released on his own label, Transmit Sound.
An EP of songs from the ''Sebastopol'' sessions, entitled ''ThirdShiftGrottoSlack'' was released in 2002. His score for the
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
''The Slaughter Rule'' (2002, directors Alex and Andrew Smith) was released in 2003 on the independent record label Bloodshot Records. Farrar formed his own independent record label in 2003, Transmit Sound (formerly called "Act/Resist Records").
In 2004, Farrar released a six-song live acoustic EP entitled ''Live EP''. Also 2004 marked the release of the live CD/DVD ''Stone, Steel & Bright Lights''.
Farrar worked closely with keyboardist
Steven Drozd
Steven Gregory Drozd (born June 11, 1969) is an American musician and actor. He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the Flaming Lips, Electric Würms, and other projects.
Early life
Drozd was born in Houston, Texas, and gre ...
of
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...
during the recording of ''Sebastopol''. Eric Heywood,
Mark Spencer from the
Blood Oranges
The Blood Oranges were an American alternative country band that formed in the late 1980s.
The founding members were Jim Ryan (acoustic and electric mandolin, guitar, and vocals), Bob Kendall (bass guitar) then replaced by Liz Wood (later L ...
, and the rock group
Canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
have often accompanied Farrar in his solo recordings and performances. Spencer is now a full-time member of Son Volt.
In 2006, Farrar announced the formation of a new band,
Gob Iron Gob Iron is an American musical group officially formed in 2006. It consists of Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt's Jay Farrar and Varnaline's Anders Parker. Their debut album, '' Death Songs for the Living'' was released on October 31, 2006 by Transmit Soun ...
, with Varnaline's Anders Parker. The songs which would make up their debut album were recorded in autumn 2004, while Farrar was in the process of recording a new Son Volt album. In April, 2019, Parker and Farrar released a
7-inch single
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...
using the Gob Iron moniker.
Farrar collaborated with
Ben Gibbard
Benjamin Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a membe ...
(of the indie rock band
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...
) to create all of the music for the soundtrack for the 2009 documentary film ''One Fast Move or I'm Gone'', about
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian a ...
's time spent at
Big Sur
Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...
. The
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
was released on October 20, 2009.
In 2012, Farrar, along with
Will Johnson,
Yim Yames, and
Anders Parker
Anders Parker is an American singer-songwriter, guitar player, singer and multi-instrumentalist with a career spanning two decades. He has performed and recorded as a solo artist and as a key member in bands such as Varnaline and Space Needle. ...
collaborated on the
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
archive project, ''
New Multitudes
''New Multitudes'' is a Woody Guthrie tribute album performed by Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, and Jim James to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Guthrie's birth, released through Rounder Records on February 28, 2012. The project w ...
''.
Style
His musical style ranges from sparse, unaccompanied
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
to full
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
band arrangements comparable to
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
or
Dinosaur Jr.
Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name.
The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...
His solo recordings also often include sound experiments, reminiscent of psychedelia, with a distinct
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
bent. One of the hallmarks of his sound is the use of alternate tunings on the
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
. His love for Woody Guthrie inspired a custom guitar made by
Creston Lea of Vermont. The guitar was made from artifacts Jay gathered from the site of Guthrie's childhood home.
References
External links
Jay Farrar reviews at the Country Standard Time website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrar, Jay
1966 births
Living people
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American male singer-songwriters
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
American rock singers
American country singer-songwriters
People from Belleville, Illinois
Son Volt members
Uncle Tupelo members
Guitarists from Illinois
20th-century American guitarists
Dutch East India Trading artists
Sire Records artists
Warner Records artists
Country musicians from Illinois
Belleville High School-West alumni
20th-century American male musicians
Gob Iron members