The group formed after Farrar met Jim and Dave Boquist during the final Uncle Tupelo tour. Together with former Uncle Tupelo drummer Mike Heidorn, the band rehearsed and recorded in the Minneapolis area in late 1994. The group performed its first concert at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on June 16, 1995. While half of the band was rooted in the Minneapolis area, Farrar and Heidorn lived in the St. Louis area, and the band used both cities as bases for its operations during the first couple of years.
Early albums
Son Volt's first album, Trace, met with critical acclaim and topped many "best-of" lists in 1995, despite not being a large commercial success. Two follow-up albums continued in the same vein. , released in 2005, gathered highlights from this era, along with previously unreleased recordings.
Hiatus and return
Farrar announced a hiatus from Son Volt after their 1999 tour. Beginning in 2001, Jay Farrar released several solo efforts that postponed further releases from Son Volt. Farrar reformed with the original members of Son Volt to record a song for a tribute album for Alejandro Escovedo. The sessions reportedly went so well that Farrar and the other band members intended to record once again in the autumn of 2004. Just prior to the sessions, however, Farrar and the other band members abruptly ended negotiations. Farrar formed a new version of the band with a different line-up and released an album on Transmit Sound/Sony Legacy, Okemah and the Melody of Riot, in 2005. 2006 saw the release of a live DVD, Six String Belief, which was recorded at The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC. In 2007 the band released a studio album called The Search. American Central Dust followed, released by Rounder Records on July 7, 2009. Honky Tonk was released March 5, 2013 also by Rounder Records. A large scale tour followed the release of the album. On February 17, 2017, the band released Notes of Blue on Farrar's label, Transmit Sound. The band's ninth studio album, Union, was released on March 28, 2019 on Farrar's Transmit Music label and distributed by Thirty Tigers Records.
Musical style
Son Volt's music ranges from quiet folk/country ballads reminiscent of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, to barhouse rockers in the spirit of Neil Young with Crazy Horse. Reviews refer to the band as alternative country pioneers, a "staple in the ALT-Country Scene" or "a cult favorite", with their music "spanning a few musical niches", but based in Americana.
