Newest member, guitarist John Horton, fresh from the Bottle Rockets leaned into that second numbers guiding riff, and hit it hard again when it cycled back around, but Farrar led the band through the crunchy chord changes to end the song just as things were starting the heat up. The band it the stage shortly after 9:30 and launched immediately in “The 99,” Farrar’s treatise on the “trickle down” economy for the “Union” album, but wasted little time between song before launching into that big bluesy groove of “Arkey Blue.” Farrar carries himself like a man on a mission, eager to get down to business, and his band matches his tone and temperament. Miller backed only by a second guitarist who played excellent pedal steel. Son Volt was preceded by a 40-minute set from country singer/songwriter and Rounder recording artist, John R. The recently renovated Ludlow Garage is actually a basement venue in the Clifton neighborhood just down the street from that landmark Skyline Chili restaurant, and while it is a unique L-shaped space, offered good sound and nice sightlines unless you were too far back where seats were available. Since moving to Ohio, I’ve had numerous opportunities to catch Jeff Tweedy and his Wilco mates live, most recently just a few weeks back at the WonderBus festival in Columbus, but this is the first time I’ve seen able Jay Farrar’s Son Volt, since the band’s early days, and I was anxious to hear the band play tracks for their latest release, Electro Melodier. Louis from late ’83 thru the middle of ’08 and wrote semi-professionally about music for many of those years – contributing to the two largest publications that followed the music scene, The Riverfront Times and Post-Dispatch, as well as a local music fanzine, The Spotlight – I had numerous opportunities and the privilege to watch Uncle Tupelo grow to gain national acclaim, to attend their final weekend stand at Mississippi Nights, and then as both Son Volt and Wilco rose from its ashes. However one might connect with those lyrics, the words point to a timeless truth later in the song, a truth worth pursuing no matter what: “We’re all survivors on the long road home.Son Volt: Ludlow Garage Cincinnati, OH Saturday, September 18, 2021Īs someone who lived in St. On the hauntingly gorgeous “Diamonds and Cigarettes,” Farrar and Laura Cantrell’s voices ring into eternity as they sing, “For all the dreams we’ve lost and left / We’re still diamonds and cigarettes.” Ultimately, though, what one writer considers a standout is irrelevant, because the beauty of Electro Melodier is that it has the power to speak to each listener uniquely while perfectly capturing the universal experience of 2020 and beyond. Farrar is political, prophetic, and concise as he opens: “Stop the death march, the worst that we’ve ever seen / Players of the long con, the circus life we don’t need.” Songs like “Reverie” and “Arkey Blue” capture this band firing on all rock-and-roll cylinders, while other tracks - like “The Levee On Down” and the instant-classic “Livin’ in the USA” - find Farrar reaching for and exceeding new lyrical heights.Īmong all the tracks, though, the unexpected standout is “Someday Is Now,” a song that starts out rather unassuming but builds into a pummeling force that will no doubt bring the listener back around to study and appreciate its intricacies. Farrar’s guitars are cranked up next to Chris Frame and Mark Spencer, and the driving rhythm of bassist Andrew DuPlantis and drummer Mark Patterson build an unforgettable foundation over the course of Electro Melodier. Similar to the dynamic duo of 2005’s Okemah and the Melody of Riot and 2007’s The Search, Son Volt has created an inimitable companion to 2019’s Union with this new LP. And with their latest record, Electro Melodier, they continue laying claim as the definers of alternative country. Even on 2013’s Honky Tonk - a departure from the cranked-up rock and roll of past records - Farrar’s lyrics and whirring voice keep the band firmly staked in the realm of who Son Volt have always been: genre-defining. While some bands may dive into experimental sounds or new recording processes over time, the Jay Farrar-fronted alt-country legends have always stayed true to their roots. Ten albums into their 27-year career, Son Volt seem to know exactly who they are.
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