Cosmic American Music is hard to define, and often easier to define by what it’s not. Michael Grimshaw in his essay “Redneck Religion and Shitkickin’ Saviours? Gram Parsons, Theology and Country Music” writes: “Parsons’ mission was the creation of a new way forward, […]
In 1995, No Depression printed its first issue with a story by co-founding editor Peter Blackstock leading the way. Titled “Dim Lights, Small Cities,” the article examined the debut album, Trace, from Son Volt – the band formed by Jay […]
Jay Farrar is what you might call the archetypal journeyman. At age 50, he remains an architect of modern Americana as he continues to fuse the disparate genres of rock, roots, folk, blues and country into his musical amalgam. As a […]
Jay Farrar’s appeal has always been as much in his sound as his songs. It’s a sound that has remained remarkably consistent through several bands and settings. Over his career, the musical backdrops have varied from traditionalist country to naked […]
A crude art historian might suggest that creative forms develop along a similar arc: They begin as rudimentary attempts to reproduce a natural account of life, but mature into complex, subjective re-creations of the artist’s worldview. So the earliest, simple […]
This five-song disc spotlights a new “Memphis Mix” of the song “Damn Shame” from Jay Farrar’s recent Sebastopol release, supplementing it with four outtakes from the album’s original recording sessions. The remix was a worthy endeavor, dangling a rhythmic hook […]
