Howdy, Many genres power Son Volt January 29, 1999 By Wayne Bledsoe, News-Sentinel entertainment writer Knoxville News-Sentinel Who: Son Volt, Alvin Youngblood Hart When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2 Where: Bijou Theatre Tickets: $15.50, available at Tickets Unlimited outlets. Call 656-4444. When Uncle Tupelo broke up in 1993, fans of roots rock and what had just been dubbed "alternative country" mourned. The group's first album, "No Depression," had given a name to a movement and a magazine dedicated to it. Although Tupelo songwriters Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy went separate ways, each took former Tupelo members with them and formed strong bands. Tweedy and Tupelo's then drummer and bassist formed Wilco, which teamed up with Billy Bragg in 1998 on the album "Mermaid Avenue." Farrar formed Son Volt, which included original Tupelo drummer Mike Heidorn and brothers Dave and Jim Boquist. The group, which recently released its third album, "Swing Wide Tremolo," appears Tuesday at the Bijou. "I think it gave both songwriters a lot more room to move," says Farrar of the split although he does admit that many fans were upset with Tupelo's demise. Yet Farrar doesn't believe Uncle Tupelo started a trend. "I think that's misleading," says Farrar from his St. Louis home. "We happened to be there at a certain time period, but there was certainly a lot of bands that came before us." Farrar says he didn't really pay attention to country music until he was out of his teens. "I really didn't seek out country or hear it from my parents," says Farrar. "I had an older brother who was into bluegrass, but, for me growing up, I was listening to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones." Farrar was in garage bands that covered the Clash and other popular '70s acts. "It was three-chord songs, pretty simplistic," says Farrar. Later, Farrar discovered Hank Williams Sr. and the Flying Burrito Brothers. It was not the country he was used to. "It always takes awhile to find out what real country music is -- or was," says Farrar. "Your first exposure to it is Top 40 country, and it's hard to reconcile that with the real thing." Still, Farrar never planned on becoming a classic country revivalist or becoming pigeonholed in the genre that Tupelo helped create. In fact, breaking up Tupelo liberated all concerned. While both Son Volt and Wilco are favorites on Adult Album Alternative and Americana radio stations, both bands strain mightily at the boundaries of any specific genre. Son Volt, in particular, mines turf first turned by the Band. The terms rock, country and folk both do and don't apply. "I'd like to have music without trying to categorize it at all," says Farrar. Take care, Shane Rhyne Knoxville, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
