Standing on One Shoulder and One Head of Giants: Son Volt’s Okemah and the Melody of Riot Aims Beyond Farrar’s Heroes

The first three tracks of Son Volt’s new album, Okemah and the Melody of Riot, stand on the shoulders of giants—Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Gil Scott-Heron, and Neil Young. However, it’s like Jay Farrar has one foot on the shoulder of these giants and his other foot on their heads, ready to step off to some new level. As self-conscious as it could seem to begin your new album with these overt references to your musical heroes, Okemah doesn’t give you the impression of slowing down to be kitschy memorabilia, cheap imitation hoping to gain weight by name checking. Instead, Farrar & Co. walk right up onto those big shoulders, stand on their heads like diving boards, and jump off into a pool of 12 new tunes.

Okemah refers to Woody Guthrie’s hometown, and “Bandages & Scars” starts the album with “the words of Woody Guthrie ringing in my ears.” That chorus pauses the song like looking at an old photograph of the folk singer before returning to Son Volt’s AltCountry stomp rock. “Afterglow 61” revisits that highway made famous by Bob Dylan while also devoting verses to Mark Twain who lived for a time along Highway 61 and “Goodnight Irene” songwriter Leadbelly who was incarcerated in a prison with a Highway 61 address. Farrar sings about Dylan who “electrified the traditional,” referring to how Dylan went electric and shocked his fans. However, since the day that Dylan electrified his folk rock roots, everyone has been trying to pick up on what he started.

Both of these first two tracks begins with Farrar’s guitar alone in the left channel through 2 bars when the rest of the band join in. Those anticipatory entrances build the energy for those rocking tracks, but track 3, “Jet Pilot” outdoes them all. Subdued guitar, cymbal/rim shot beat, back Farrar’s tentative opening verse which then pauses as the guitar chord fades. You can’t help but let out a little “ha” chuckle of anticipation just before the guitars rock in, lead guitarist Brad Rice launching that airplane of a song into the sky.

“Jet Pilot” is the third shoulder of giants tune. Less overtly, the tune sounds like Neil Young & Crazy Horse with a soul-searching story that definitely matches Young’s way of drawing characters. The song also says, “The revolution will be televised,” a turn on Gil Scott-Heron’s famous phrase, a realization that the media (especially television) does extremely influence the politics of today’s world. Meanwhile, the story of Junior says, “His daddy has a job in Washington/Wants to raise a Harvard son.” That mixture of a politician looking to gain privileges for his son while grappling with military commitments sounds like Farrar put one foot on Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” and found the next step up. It’s pretty clear who Farrar is talking about stepping onto the flight deck.

While Okemah begins with three tracks nodding toward musical history, Farrar has his own giant shoulders that bear a history worthy in itself. The fourth track, “Atmosphere,” sounds like Farrar is standing on his own sound. He sings, “Getting that old time feeling again,” and more than just reaching back for those old records that Farrar sings about on “Gramophone,” that “old time feeling again” seems to now also include Farrar’s musical history.

No one can talk about Farrar without mentioning Uncle Tupelo, the pioneering AltCountry band which then split into Son Volt (the First) and Wilco. Uncle Tupelo developed Farrar’s song and confidence, but he took another step with Son Volt. Yet, when Son Volt went on hiatus, Farrar emerged with solo material which showed that he was continuing to grow, not resting on his laurel-wreathed shoulders.

While touring to support his solo material, Farrar was supported by the now-defunct Canyon, a sound blend which is captured on the live CD, Stone, Steel, and Bright Lights. When it became clear that Son Volt (the First) would not reunite for this album, Farrar recruited members for Son Volt (the Second), including Canyon’s drummer, Dave Bryson. Along with Andrew Duplantis on bass and the aforementioned Rice on guitar, it seems that Son Volt (the Second) is actually a reflection of that Farrar/Canyon sound blend. Okemah is a DualDisc with the DVD documentary “Break Through the Lens” opposite the audio album side. In the documentary, Farrar talks about wanting to call this new band Son Volt because it’s about what four people do together in creating music (more than his solo career). In Son Volt (the Second), it’s evident that his experience with Canyon took the Son Volt sound to someplace new.

At times, Son Volt has definitely achieved this organic rock sound that enlivens the AltCountry template of Farrar’s music. Yet, compared side by side, “6 String Belief” could benefit from what Farrar did on solo acoustic guitar as on Stone, Steel, and Bright Lights, where the song first was recorded. As a studio track here, it steps down a notch in its energy.

However, “6 String Belief” is where you see Farrar speaking directly about our desire and need to contribute to what our heroes have already produced. The rocking song includes the line, “The declaration framer states revolution sets the course.” He’s said in interviews that the song was written about the music industry, but there are too many political themes in the album to ignore the reference to the drafters of the “Declaration of Independence.” In the current milieu where the United States government puts pressure on Palestinians, Northern Irish, and Iraqis to refrain from violence in order to achieve certain independence and liberties, this line in “6 String Belief” reminds us that our independence began as a bloody revolution.

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Thanks to Son Volt, Jay Farrar, Transmit Sound, and Legacy Recordings for the review CD/DVD.