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diggJay Farrar’s latest project, Gob Iron, warp-speeds the “folk process”
By Steve PickPhotograph by Aldo Mauro
Jay Farrar is singing an existential folk ballad, pointing out that he ain’t got nothing in this world and urging his listeners to let your conscience serve you well. Then comes the chorus: hard times come again no more. That should ring some bells, because it’s the title of a classic ballad from America’s first popular songwriter, Stephen Foster, who wrote it in the middle of the 19th century.
Farrar credits his latest project, Death Songs for the Living, to his new band Gob Iron (that’s British slang for harmonica). “The songs we’re doing on this record,” Farrar says, “all left an impression on us one way or another. I thought if there was something I could add to an old folk song, I’d give it a shot. With ‘Hard Times,’ the only thing I actually remembered was the title.”
Pete Seeger coined the phrase “folk process” for the way songs evolve over time, and this is as clear an example of it as you can find. Of course, the Internet will offer up the correct lyrics and melody for any 150-year-old song you’d care to seek out, but Farrar relied only on his sense of connection to the idea of Foster’s song. Other lyrics come from a combination of Farrar’s memories of other, more obscure folk sources and newly minted words fresh from his imagination. In essence, he wrote a brand-new song which ties itself to the work of the past. It’s the same process as sampling in hip-hop, only without capturing the exact sound of another record.
This isn’t the first time Farrar has turned his muse to the trappings of folk music. His first band, Uncle Tupelo, released March 16–20, 1992, a set of acoustic-based rock takes on older, rural songs. Since disbanding Uncle Tupelo in 1994, Farrar has alternated between leading two completely different line-ups of his band Son Volt and a period of recording and touring simply under his own name.
“I’ve come to the realization that I need to keep busy,” says Farrar. “By moving around to different projects, I can do that and keep things fresh.”
Now Farrar has teamed up with multi-instrumentalist Anders Parker, once of the indie-rock band Varnaline, to form Gob Iron.
“I met Anders in 1997, when our bands toured together. We shared a sensibility, both of us attracted to the same British folk artists such as Bert Jansch or Davy Graham.”
In 2004, Parker came to Farrar’s St. Louis recording studio on the Hill with the intention of helping out with a folk-rock album for Son Volt. “That project didn’t work out,” says Farrar, “but I had prepared maybe three tunes, rewriting some lyrics and playing with melodies. So we just recorded these songs as a duo.”
Death Songs contains nine dark, gorgeous duets with delicious finger-picked guitar, careful piano backing and the occasional haunting electric guitar underneath either Farrar’s or Parker’s vocals.
“Anders and I decided to try free-form jam stuff,” said Farrar. “In just a few hours, with no plan at all, we had spontaneously come up with some nice stuff. Sometimes, that’s a really good approach.”
Farrar, who grew up in Belleville, Ill., where he formed Uncle Tupelo along with Jeff Tweedy and Mike Heidorn in the late ’80s, has lived in South St. Louis since 1997. “I love it here,” he said. “It’s a great place to woodshed and observe people. If I lived in New York or Los Angeles, people would want me to go out and drink all the time.”
This month, Farrar and Parker are heading out on a short tour as Gob Iron. Next up is a new Son Volt album, likely slated for release in spring ’07. “Who knows, though?” Farrar questions. “I haven’t spoken to Anders, but I’d like to do another Gob Iron album sometime, too.”
