Jay Farrar

Jay lost his swing. He needs to get that back. That's about it. I miss Son Volt a lot, but I'm not really holding my breath. I just think he needs to, you know, get that feeling back. Cuz lately he hasn't had it, with precious few exceptions. And I do know that you know what I'm talking about. I suspect that Jay is headed in a direction that he never predicted or planned. And that would be down.

I'm basically an acoustic player and love acoustic sound, so I'm never disapointed with Jay when he goes that direction. Plus, as a songwriter, I like to hear the words... and Jay's words are worth hearing. So I get frustrated when lyrics get swallowed up in Electric band sound.

Still, I love the electric Son Volt stuff like "Drown" and "Loose String" and "Medicine Hat." And I love the way Sebastopol ballanced heavier, rockier songs with quieter stuff. In the end, Its a balance I'm looking for. And arrangements that fit the songs -- not rock or not rock, not electric or acoustic, but what's fitting.

And, to me, the most fitting thing with Jay is some form of Slide guitar. Finger slide, lap steel, or Pedal steel... I love that sound with his voice and his song style. I loved the Live Seattle disk because of the great lap steel and slide work. I like the stuff with Canyon that has lap steel. The touch of heartbreak that always seems to exist in slide work just fits the "ghostly moan" of Jay's voice almost anytime I hear it.

for that reason, a new Son Volt record would appeal to me. That and giving Mike Heidorn some work!

Bob Ryan

I agree with Route
People forget what an awesome guitar player Jay is.
He can rip it out with the best of them on electric...when watching the recent DVD you can really get an appreciation for his mad skills on the six string.. the guys talent is just so freakin overwhelming
On a afterthought
I'll never forget a concert at Mississippi Nights during the Sebastapol tour when he came out for an encore and played keyboard and sang "Sing me back Home", which is one of my favorite songs
Plus he played keyboard at the Gram Parsons tribute concert on Wild Horses

Barnum wrote:I, for one, would like to hear a funny song - or a song with some humor attached to it.
A little irony, sarcasm, or a joke - old song writing tradition, you know.

Agreed.
If I had to vote rockin' or acoustic, I'd got rockin' (acoustic fine, but rockin' would be a nice change).
If I could vote for anything, I'd vote for a UT reunion, but that's nowhere realistic at this point, so I vote for a Son Volt reunion for the next album which is more of a possiblity.

I play mandolin in a bluegrass band but I'm ready for some rockin'! It is fun to work out Jays songs on mando. I like playing "No Rolling Back."

I want to hear Jay with a band again rocking. SS&BL has made me realize how much I've missed Jay strapping on his electric and rocking. His version of "Like a Hurricane" just blows me a way. I'd forgotten what a good lead guitarist he is. I'm hoping for Son Volt but I'll take Jay with any backing band. The solo work/acoustic has been great but I think it's run it's course and now Jay need to start rocking again.

He needs to cover some songs that aren't bummers or downers. You can only listen to so many bummer songs on one album, and since he can't write any up songs, he needs to cover some. Maybe another love song like Mystify Me. That's what made UT so great, Tweedy was there to balance Farrar's doom and gloom. Now every song sounds like Lilli Shull. Ack, shoot me. His best songs are the ones that rock hard, that aren't happy or sad, like Right on Through and Route.

This means he needs a band, for God's sake. He doesn't have to talk to them. But he needs to play with them.

I have a bias- my dad has played pedal steel guitar for years...but listen to "Medicine Hat"- that slide is the perfect match for jays voice...but I think the guy could sing Brittany Spears covers and make them compelling-
Anyway- I'd like to here his take on a Patty Griffin song as well...I think they write from a similar place...Maybe "When it don't come easy" or "Poor mans house".
2 cents

I think Jay needs to get some laptops for his guitars.

j/k

I just want to hear Jay be Jay, whatever that entails. I use iTunes and I have a Jay setlist that I put on shuffle, including the UT, SV and solo stuff. His sound is just amazing, the great voice, the amazing guitars, and just great great songs. His style is pretty varied from UT to SSBL, but the quality sure isn't.

Jay Rules.

I would like him to have a full band but still have a few more acoustic numbers. I'll take the zero on any more space junk. Maybe have a cover of Cortez the Killer....

I, for one, would like to hear a funny song - or a song with some humor attached to it.

A little irony, sarcasm, or a joke - old song writing tradition, you know.

I vote for more rockin'!

I'm writing to see what people want to hear from Jay's next album. A recent poll on this board asked if we preferred Jay rockin out or more acoustic. I voted rockin out not so much cause I prefer one sound over the other but cause I'd like his next album to shake. I love TB, and I love Jay's acoustic work. I love it when he lets loose, too, and so I'd like it if his next project were a bit more rockin. A simple 12 song album would be a nice change of pace. Jay's gotta do what he's gotta do, and develop as he sees fit, but I was just so happy to hear Like a Hurricane. Basically, I want to see how jay has developed in the arena of rockin tunes and see if it can be as good as his recent acoustic work. And I have no doubt it would be.