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Jay
Farrar - June 23, 2003 -
St. Louis (The Duck Room
at Blueberry Hill)
"Does this feel like a party?" It was an odd question for Jay Farrar to ask, given that the circumspect and slightly dour singer/songwriter seldom seems in a celebratory mood, at least onstage. But a party it was nonetheless, as Farrar treated several hundred fans packed into Blueberry Hill's Duck Room in St. Louis Monday night (June 23) to a sneak preview of songs from his new album (released the next day), "Terroir Blues." The album is intimate and instrumentally spare. Following suit, the concert featured just Farrar on acoustic guitar, keyboards and vocals; Mark Spencer on acoustic and electric guitars, lap steel and bass; and for one song apiece, guests Janice Rieman on cello and Bottle Rockets frontman Brian Henneman on electric sitar. A full-band tour with Spencer, Anders Parker and Jud Ehrbar, begins next month. Farrar's lyrics can be abstruse, but there's no mistaking the depth of feeling in new songs like "Heart on the Ground," "No Rolling Back" and "Hard is the Fall." "Cahokian," which featured cellist Rieman, was especially fine, telling the tale of a Native American culture that, before it vanished, built huge ceremonial mounds, some of which still stand in the St. Louis area. In stark contrast, "Fool King's Crown" was a raucous, wall-rattling rural blues, with Henneman supplying sinewy lead lines on electric sitar. Another new song, "Dent County," paid tribute to Farrar's late father, a member of the Merchant Marines, a musician, and something of a local character. It was particularly touching to hear the song with Farrar's brothers, also musicians, in attendance. Farrar also played some songs from his debut solo album, "Sebastopol," including "Feel Free," "Voodoo Candle," "Make It Alright" and "Vitamins." Despite that album's more textured production, the songs didn't suffer in concert, as Spencer filled the spaces with slashing chords and stinging leads. On "Damn Shame," the pair once again visited the blues, with Spencer playing razor-edged lap steel lines and Farrar blowing harmonica. It's seldom Farrar's way to spend a lot of time looking back, but it would be wrong to deny his fans the pleasures of a few songs from his Son Volt days. "Tear Stained Eye" and "Windfall" are near-classics, and the crowd treated them as such, singing along respectfully and not overpowering the pair onstage. Farrar also dipped into the Uncle Tupelo catalog for one song, "Still Be Around." Perhaps the most startling moment of the show came courtesy of a particularly well-chosen cover. The Beatles' "Revolver" inspired some of the psychedelic bits interspersed between songs on "Terroir Blues." Just so, Farrar and Spencer supplied a jaw-dropping version of George Harrison's "Love You To," which featured spectacular interplay between Farrar's rhythm guitar and Spencer's exploratory leads. The pair ended the night with a couple of blues tunes -- a blazing take on St. Louis blues legend Henry Townsend's "Cairo Blues" and Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me To Do." For someone who has already experienced a couple of significant creative peaks in his career, Farrar seems on the verge of yet another -- on his new album, as well as onstage. Here is Farrar's June 23 set list: "Heart
on the Ground" (encore
one): (encore
two) (encore
three) |
