![]() Like media conglomerates, ratings, and advertising dollars that are all built on dividing people, and that just seems wrong. There are so many moneymaking forces at work, too. Is it your response to the hyper-partisanism that’s been bubbling up since the 2000 election? There are so many forces at work trying to divide us that I think more focus needs to be put on what can bring us together. And ultimately, I think that’s sort of the message of the record. Half the people you know have a different viewpoint, so you just have to find a way to coexist. Being in the middle of the country does inform these songs because you have to see all sides. Something where I was trying to see all sides. It was actually my brother who pointed it out to me that there was a Midwestern sensibility to the album. How did that inform the songs you wrote for Union? ![]() It sort of comes with the job to put in the song what you’re observing.Ĭorrect me if I’m wrong, but where you live in St. It’s commonplace to be writing about what’s going on around you. But I’m just drawing inspiration from a lot of what I’m listening to. JAY FARRAR: I sort of see Union as a companion piece to Okemah and the Melody of Riot, which included a lot of topical songwriting. The title alone invokes the division our country is experiencing. INDY: There are a lot of political undertones on Union. If I’ve learned anything behind Son Volt’s merch table, it’s that Farrar and his revolving cohort-which currently consists of guitarist Chris Frame, bassist Andrew Duplantis, drummer Mark Patterson, and multi-instrumentalist Mark Spencer-have cultivated a deeply devoted and passionate fanbase that sees itself reflected in Farrar’s tales of the American dream and its attendant struggles. Plumbing the depths of what it means to be an American with roots in a place as complex and central, both philosophically and geographically, as the Midwest, and how we might find a middle ground between our ever-deepening trenches, Farrar has created an album that echoes the sentiments of an exhausted proletariat. ![]() Perhaps it’s this facet of his personality that has given his extensive catalog a sense of authenticity lacked by many of his roots-tinged musical progeny, crafted in the image of Son Volt and Farrar’s legendary alt-country trio, Uncle Tupelo. Offstage, Farrar is quiet-a measured observer of the world around him who prefers listening to talking. Since then, we’ve been sharing a van bench, lunch menus, and hotel hallways as we slowly make our way through the first leg of the tour. tour in support of its new album, the politically charged Union. A few weeks before, he had hired me to handle the band’s merch sales on its U.S. It’s no coincidence that Farrar, the frontman of Americana mainstay Son Volt, is packing his bags in a hotel room next to mine outside of tiny La Crosse, Wisconsin.
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