Why Jay Farrar Thinks Blues And Country Aren't All That Far From Each Other

Missouri-bred veterans Son Volt have been at the vanguard of the burgeoning Americana movement since their inception in the mid-'90s. The band rose from the ashes of alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo following their 1994 implosion, with that band's two co-frontmen Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy branching out to form Son Volt and Wilco respectively.

In the decades since, Son Volt have stayed true to their roots and released eight powerful albums exploring all manner of traditional terrain, with their most recent effort Notes Of Blue examining the oft-overlooked commonality between the blues and country oeuvres.

Even a recent reappraisal of Son Volt's seminal 1995 debut Trace for re-release purposes influenced Notes Of Blue's eventual aesthetic. "It did in terms of that I was really looking forward to getting back into playing electric guitar, which is something that I hadn't done in Son Volt recordings for quite a few years," Farrar reflects. "Trace obviously had that duality of acoustic and electric guitars and we approached it that way on Notes Of Blue as well."

The album also finds Farrar exploring the distinctive tunings and fingerpicking styles of Delta bluesmen Skip James and Mississippi Fred McDowell, as well as looking further afield to the work of UK pastoralist Nick Drake. "I had to learn the [styles of James and McDowell] as I wasn't familiar with them," Farrar tells. "I'm at least accustomed to the idea of just starting with either a random tuning or various alternate tunings so the approach at least I was familiar with, but the tunings themselves took me a couple of days to get familiar with. Eventually I was able to get inside of it and find the right expressions and sounds, and for me it felt like a chance to connect with icons and heroes in a tribute of sorts.

"Nick [Drake] also had some great, great alternate tunings and I'd always wanted to work with those as well. At first I was looking at maybe doing two different projects - one more folk-based project inspired by English folk musicians - but ultimately I combined it all and felt that there was enough commonality of purpose and aesthetics to all fall into this record."

Farrar's music has always been so synonymous with the country realms, was the blues a major part of his musical upbringing? "I'd say it was always a component," he ponders. "The realisation that blues was such an important part of country music was a reason to focus on that and really explore the nexus of where blues and country meet. And they meet quite a lot. Hank Williams was an example there of an artist equally at home in both realms, and that was what I was shooting for and that was the inspiration this time around, trying to find that convergence of blues and country."