Jay Stuart Farrar (born December 26, 1966) is an American songwriter and musician based in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his talent as a songwriter, he plays guitar, piano, harmonica, and is a vocalist.

Uncle Tupelo

Farrar formed

with

Jeff Tweedy Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, singer songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, began his music care ...

and

Mike Heidorn Mike Heidorn (born 1967 in Belleville, Illinois), is a 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 Coffee ...

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 Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

and expanding to being 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. Uncle Tupelo is often mentioned as one of the originators of the

alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

genre of music or subgenre of country music which combines country, folk, and/or bluegrass with punk rock, alt-rock, indie rock, or other genres.

Son Volt

After the dissolution of Uncle Tupelo in 1994, Farrar formed the rock group

, 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 (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

for

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966. Part of San Francisco's psychedelic music scene, the band merged elements of rock and roll, folk music, pop, blues, and country. They were one of the few groups of which all members were lea ...

co-founder

Skip Spence Alexander "Skip" Spence (born Alexander Lee Spence, Jr.; 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, h ...

, 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'' ( Columbia, 1999). In 2005, the band re-formed with a different lineup and has released seven additional albums.

Other

In 1995, Farrar collaborated with Kelly Willis on the song "Rex's Blues", which appeared on

Red Hot + Bothered Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

, an

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

benefit album produced by the

Red Hot Organization ''Red Hot Organization'' (RHO) is a non-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization with goals to promote diversity through equal access to healthcare through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors ...

. As a solo artist, he has released two full-length albums, two EPs, one film score, and various live recordings. His full-length albums are '' Sebastopol'' (2001) and '' Terroir Blues'' (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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

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 film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

''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. 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 grew up in Ri ...

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, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...

during the recording of ''Sebastopol''. Eric Heywood, Mark Spencer from the

Blood Oranges Blood orange is a variety of orange with crimson, blood-colored flesh. Blood orange may also refer to: Film * Blood Orange (1953 film), ''Blood Orange'' (1953 film), starring Tom Conway, U.S. title ''Three Stops to Murder'' * Blood Orange (2016 f ...

, and the rock group

Canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

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, 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 of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

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 (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...

) 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 ...

's time spent at

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

. The

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

was released on October 20, 2009. In 2012, Farrar along with Will Johnson, Yim Yames, and Anders Parker collaborated on the

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

archive project, ''

New Multitudes ''New Multitudes'' is a Woody Guthrie tribute album performed by Jay Farrar, Will Johnson (musician), Will Johnson, Anders Parker, and Jim James, Yim Yames to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Guthrie's birth, released through Rounder Record ...

''.

Style

His musical style ranges from sparse, unaccompanied

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

to full

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and 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 African ...

band arrangements comparable to

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

or Dinosaur Jr. His solo recordings also often include sound experiments, reminiscent of psychedelia, with a distinct

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *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 192 ...

bent. One of the hallmarks of his sound is the use of alternate tunings on the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. His love for Woody Guthrie inspired a custom guitar made by Creston Lea of

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

. The guitar was made from artifacts Farrar 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