#7 Son Volt


This story's been told a million times over, but when Jay Farrar opted to bail on alt.country pioneers, Uncle Tupelo, fans of the genre and beyond, were left with two new options: Son Volt and Wilco. For years, the debate of Jay vs. Jeff raged. Purists tended to side with Farrar, while those open to Tweedy's more experimental side, landed with Wilco. At least out of the gates, there was wide consensus that Farrar's Son Volt held an edge with 1995's absolutely brilliant, Trace. Wilco's first effort, A.M., had its moments, but altogether sounded like a collection of UT b-sides. Son Volt followed with 1997's underrated Straightaways, and closed out their first run as a band with 1999's fantastic, Wide Swing Tremolo. Farrar's backing band of original Tupelo drummer Mike Heidorn, and brothers Dave and Jim Boquist, likely represented the best alt.country band of that decade. And then, following this trio of classics, Farrar once again departed a band at the top of its game, this time in favor of a solo career. He went on to re-form SV in 2005, with a completely different backing band, and although their output started strong, they were never able to capture the country-rock abandon of that first version of the band, but man, for a few years in the mid/late 90s, there was no one better.

 This, right here, is nothing short of perfection:



 Favorite record: Wide Swing Tremolo (1998)

 Where are they now? Farrar continues to waffle between Son Volt and his solo career.

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