Very few people who write and perform popular music for a living can claim the sort of consistent quality for their work that Son Volt's Jay Farrar can.

Having begun his professional musical career in the St. Louis area (by way of nearby Belleville, Ill., where he and Son Volt drummer Mike Heidorn both grew up) at the beginning of the decade with the trio Uncle Tupelo (which originally included Heidorn and bassist Jeff Tweedy), Farrar set out to meld the folk and country music played in his parents' home with the dynamics of punk rock.

The result was a style which bound together tight, angular rhythms with acoustic guitars, banjos and steels, all of which called attention to the emotional spaces which both parent forms held in common: a lyrical tradition of both protest and self-reflection derived from lives lived at the margins of power and privilege.Uncle Tupelo lasted slightly over five years, after which the group splintered; the principles have been reluctant to discuss details.

Jeff Tweedy regrouped the cadre of players who filled out Uncle Tupelo's ranks during their last year on the road under the new name Wilco, producing two discs which move his old group's traditional leanings closer to the roots rock sound of the late '60's and early '70's.

Farrar and Heidorn came together, by way of the Minneapolis scene spearheaded by their old friends in the Jayhawks, with brothers Jim and Dave Boquist on bass and guitar respectively and Eric Heywood on pedal steel (for all good intent, the unofficial fifth member of the group) to create a collection of songs which delve even further into those revelatory moments when remnants of the past take on forceful relevance.

With "Straightaways," his second recording under his current band's moniker and his sixth overall, Jay Farrar has further expanded the depth of a body of work which speaks broadly about the nature of memory, the tolls of regret, and the prospects for hard-won hope.

The songs continue to be derived from a stylistic frame of reference which not only encompasses the founders of the country tradition dating back to the Carters and Jimmie Rodgers, but to the finest songwriters which rock music in all its variety has produced as well.

What appears below are excerpts of a phone conversation with Farrar on April 21, the day before the official release date of the new record. Son Volt was in Baltimore, mid-way through a tour taking them from the Midwest to the East Coast and back, including a stop to tape a set for the PBS program "Austin City Limits." After a run through the U.K. and Europe in June, the band will be back in the States, touring throughout the summer.

CST: The press from Warner about "Straightaways" almost has an apologetic tone to it, as if its similarities to "Trace" were a liability. Are there distinct differences between the two records which you can point to?
JF: Mainly, the new album reflects the state of the band at the time it was recorded. If there's a difference between the two sets, it's in the way we've learned to interact as a band rather than in terms of concept. Our approach this time was to just to go into the studio and capture the moment, no frills, no outside musicians... Well, there's one guy (Pauli Ryan) playing tambourine, but...

CST: So were the songs tailored to capture the band's new playing style?
JF: At times; some of the arrangements were worked out as we went along, others had been worked up on stage to the point where we were happy with them and didn't have to alter them very much. And there were a couple of things, "Been Set Free" and "No More Parades," where we went for stripped-down arrangements... They gave the record its balance.

CST: How has the band grown over the past two years?
JF: Well, when we first recorded "Trace," we were really just friends who also happened to be musicians, but after a few tours it really became more intuitive. Also, having Eric Heywood (on pedal steel) around to play live with us has been important - the sound of the guitars and the steel all seemed to come together into a cohesive sound.

CST: You've recently relocated from New Orleans back to the St. Louis area. Has the move been good for you?
JF: Yeah, especially in terms of the logistics of getting the band together for rehearsals, because Jim and Dave (Boquist) and Eric all still live around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The move has made the commute easier, and we're able to spend more time at the practice space we've got over in Southern Illinois or, sometimes, up in Minnesota. The move was also one of the reasons for recording parts of "Straightaways" when we did -as with the last record, some of the songs were drawn from observations on the long drives between New Orleans, St. Louis and Minneapolis, and I wanted to capture those ideas before too much time had passed.

CST: How has the move made a difference in any of your new songs' subjects?
JF: Well, in so far as environment inevitably effects the way anyone works, sure. I mean, that's more or less the area where I grew up, so there are all sorts of memories which living there now brings back after having been away - some things which I'd been too close to even four or five years ago to consider them proper "memories," you know? And the sense of place is important, too, I guess. One of the new songs on the record, "Way Down Watson," has a reference to the portion of Watson Road (an east-to-west thoroughfare which runs along the southern tier of the St. Louis area) which was part of old Route 66; the whole prevailing mentality about that area is to tear down anything of historical value, as if it was a reminder of something that some people want forgotten...that's just one specific reference to a larger issue...

CST: Was it that sort of willful destructiveness which provoked the more fatalistic tone in some of the new songs?
JF: I don't think I'm being willfully fatalistic (laughter). No, tearing down evidence of the past isn't the work of fate, and I'm not fatalistic about it...But in other ways, when you think about the small details of living on a day-to-day basis, so many situations happen that are out of anyone's direct control, you just have to question why sometimes. And talking about "fate" is just one way of asking that question.

CST: There's been a fair amount of speculation in the music press about how the breakup of your old band figures into your songwriting.

JF: I think I'm pretty much past all the talk. I mean, the anger or animosity which some people have read into the songs was never there to begin with. And being able to pull together a new band which works well together has helped to move things along.

CST: Should I ask whether you've been in contact with your old partner (Jeff Tweedy)?
JF: We do speak from time to time. I saw him about a month ago when Wilco played in St. Louis. I stopped by the soundcheck...I suppose there's room for improvement there, but isn't that always the case? I mean, things could definitely be worse.

CST: One holdover from the Uncle Tupelo days is your decision to continue working with Brian Paulson in the studio. (Paulson co-produced "Anodyne" and both Son Volt discs.) Tell me a bit about what he brings to a recording session.

JF: He's just a really good guy to work with... I think he's sort of an anomaly in his profession in that he's very musician-oriented in the way he chooses to work... He's most interested in letting interaction between the players develop organically, and then if he sees that something is going awry, he'll try to help sort it out.

CST: In terms of altering song arrangements?
JF: In terms of everything from instrumentation to tempo choices, all of it. Also, he has a good sense of when to just put a song down and get away from it for a couple of days. He understands when to let an idea settle, and I've appreciated it.

CST: Are there any other players or bands you're looking forward to recording or touring with? Anyone you've specifically requested as an opening act?
JF: Well, on this current tour most the opening slots are being split between Richard Buckner and Slim Dunlap, and their sets seem to have gone pretty well. Other than them, I like Michael Hurley, who has a record out on the Koch label and has done a couple of shows with us. We'd be glad to play with him again. As far as recording goes, that's a little far off yet.

CST: Anyone else you're listening to right now who really grabs you?
JF: Let's see... well, we saw an excellent Vic Chesnutt show up inMinnesota. I was really surprised by how good it was, and I'd like tocatch him again at some point. We also went out of our way to see TownesVan Zandt in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania a while back... he didn't look veryhealthy, but... well, anyway, there was a guy who put a lot of care intohis songs.
Recently, I've been listening to Junior Kimbrough (a blues singerand guitar player from Holly Springs, Mississippi), who tells goodstories... Aside from that, I guess it's just been lots of old blues andcountry reissues, especially things that weren't even available on vinylas far back as ten or fifteen years ago... I think there's a lot of oldermaterial out there now of high quality, and because it hasn't been widelyavailable in such a long time its influence on newer music probably isn'tas widely felt as it could be. That possibility certainly gets myattention.