I spoke with Jay Farrar of Son Volt about his upcoming album, American Central Dust, which drops July 7th on Rounder Records. It was an honor to be able to speak to someone whose music I’ve enjoyed so much for over a decade. If you consider yourself a Son Volt/Farrar fan, you’re going to be very pleased with American Central Dust.

Could you lend some information on the recording process of the American Central Dust? Where and how was it recorded, anything you did differently this time around?

American Central Dust was recorded in October 2008 in St. Louis at SV rehearsal space(The Search and Okemah were recorded at a different SV rehearsal space in St. Louis). The main approach to recording American Central Dust was to record as much live in the studio as possible—using overdubs where necessary to hopefully add and not detract. The idea of making a more focused record was at the forefront this time and that meant using instrumentation that is tried and true ( pedal steel, violin). Stepping away from the electric song/acoustic song/electric song/acoustic song dichotomy was also taken into consideration this time around so I only played acoustic guitar on the record.

I think “Dynamite” may be one of your best written songs to date. Did you write the song in the studio or bring it in with you?

“Dynamite” is a song that seemed to write itself—maybe the simple song structure is what made it seem that way. Keith Richards and Neil Young have shown us that a non-complicated song structure can be something to strive for—maybe because it keeps things on a more visceral level.

What is on your bookshelf at the moment?

I just finished “Low Life’ by Luc Sante which takes a sociological look at the undercurrents that shaped NYC. I’m currently reading “Blues People” by LeRoi Jones which explores the formation of blues, jazz and the cross pollination (sometimes forced in the case of slavery) of African and European music to create an explosion of new music forms in the early 20th century. I’m glad you asked this question when I’m actually reading books. Books? Oh yea, books!

What was the last show you went to see as a fan?

Last show I went to see was Tom Waits. Great to see him kicking up that dust…………

The internet has dramatically altered the way artists can reach an audience. With things like blogs/myspace/etc, what are your thoughts on the power of the internet in terms of helping (or hurting) your music?

What hasn’t changed is that the experience of live music seems to be as vital as ever. How, when and where people are most often going to seek out recorded music is still being sorted and the dust is still settling.

Buy: Son Volt – “American Central Dust”
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Myspace: Son Volt
MP3: Son Volt – “Down To The Wire”