As singer-songwriter Jay Farrar heads to FitzGerald's for a solo concert on Friday, many of his fans may be wondering what's going on with his band, Son Volt. Farrar, who originally played with alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo and later recorded three albums with Son Volt, had been focusing recently on solo records. Earlier this year, he released a live CD, "Stone, Steel & Bright Lights," featuring Canyon as his backup band.

Then came the announcement this fall that Son Volt was getting back together to tape a new album.

That press release was soon followed by another announcement: Son Volt was indeed recording an album, but Farrar would be the only original member left in the band. The other three players -- Dave Boquist, Jim Boquist and Mike Heidorn -- were bowing out of the project and being replaced with Brad Rice, Andrew Duplantis, Eric Heywood and Dave Bryson.

Farrar talked about the latest developments with Son Volt as well as his solo music during a recent telephone interview.

Q: What are your plans for this tour?

A: I'll be playing with (pedal-steel guitarist) Mark Spencer, and I plan to work in some new songs. I just got done doing some new recording. We did 15 songs. We won't be doing that many new ones, but hopefully, a couple. Mark's great. He's very versatile. He adds sound texture through the use of a lot of different effects that give the songs a different sound.

Q: What happened with the change in Son Volt's lineup?

A: Basically, I wanted to see a reunion happen, you know? So we were proceeding with that in mind, and then in the interest of getting everything done right, lawyers are brought in -- one for me, and one representing those three guys. Ultimately, maybe that was the problem. Basically, a proposal was made to them. Everybody made concessions on both sides, and everything was agreed on. The lawyers agreed to all of the terms, both lawyers. So at that point, the reunion was announced and recording time was booked and planned and all that. And then on the first day of preproduction and rehearsal, there were new demands -- major new demands -- made from their side. So that kind of set an adversarial tone that, you know, we just never recovered from.

Q: What sort of demands are you talking about?

A: I think that it's not so much the details of it. It's more the timing of it that really threw me for a loop. I woke up that day thinking we were going to be recording, and then they basically refused to do that. I mean, I called them all and said, "Come on, let's set up and just start playing. We can work this out eventually." But they wouldn't do that. They basically just wanted to communicate through their lawyer. It was a devastating week for me.

Q: Was this mostly around money issues?

A: Well, if you get lawyers involved, sure, there's going to be that element to it.

Q: And then how did you come to the decision to still do a Son Volt record but have a different lineup?

A: I basically came up with the idea of Son Volt as a vehicle for a certain type and spirit of my songwriting. I mean, Son Volt wasn't a situation where we were a pre-existing band that got signed. Son Volt was basically me. I had a contract. Then I picked these guys to play with me. Once again, the main idea was it would be a vehicle for my songs. This is just a continuation of that with different people involved.

Q: What would you say is the difference between a Son Volt record and the Jay Farrar solo records that you've done?

A: I guess the idea that goes with the Son Volt songs is more that it's going to be in a band context, a band recording live, as much live as possible, in the studio, and also playing those songs in a live context. The solo stuff, I just wanted to leave it open a little more to experimentation, whether it's me recording all of the tracks on a song or adding electronic instruments or whatever.

Q: On your recent records, you've been playing around with alternate tunings on the guitar. What difference does that make in the sort of songs you write?

A: When you're playing a song in a different tuning, it has a different sound, a different voicing. Also, I've found when you're playing with (another guitarist whose) guitar is in standard tuning, the two complement each other. That concept was developed by other folks long ago, people like the Rolling Stones ... It's kind of an open-ended situation when you're writing. It's a lot more fluid, because you're not covering ground you've been on before, it's all new territory.

Q: Some of your songs in recent years have a sort of Eastern quality, including droning. Is that something you consciously tried to do or does it naturally happen in these tunings?

A: It kind of naturally happens when you play in those tunings, because you have a lot of drone strings, a lot of sympathetic strings similar to what you find on a sitar. I recently just sort of lucked into going to see a sitar player -- it wasn't at an Indian restaurant, it was an actual concert setting. Kind of cool.

Q: Is there a running theme to your recent lyrics?

A: I guess not necessarily a running theme. There are some (songs) asking questions about what's going on in the world politically and things like that. Of course, I don't have the answers.

Q: One of the new songs on the live CD, "Doesn't Have to Be This Way," is pretty political. Did you just feel compelled to make a political statement in a song?

A: I guess that was the case. As I get older, I guess I feel more like a stakeholder, you know? I have kids. You sort of look at the leader of the country, who's had more run-ins with the law than I have. (Laughs.) But even beyond that, I grew up listening to people like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, who didn't shy away from making a statement.

Q: Do you feel like you can have any political impact by writing a song like that?

A: I don't know that songs that I would write would have that much of an impact, but certainly people like Bruce Springsteen, when they do it, it has an impact.

Q: Are you satisfied with your current position as a musician who keeps on working while not being at, say, Bruce Springsteen's level of fame?

A: I feel lucky. I'm able to record whenever I'm ready to, essentially. And I know I have an outlet for the songs that I write, that they will find their way out there somehow. That's something that I see to be the most important thing, just getting music out there.

Q: You seem to have settled down in St. Louis. Do you plan to stay there? (Farrar answered this question a week before the election.)

A: For now. I guess we'll see how the election goes.