Son Volt is Jay Farrar’s popular rock band persona.. “Son Volt represent a certain spirit of songwriting with an emphasis on trying to capture what four musicians playing together can do,” says Jay. He started Son Volt in 1994 after quitting his previous band, the highly regarded folk-punk band Uncle Tupelo. Ask anyone who was lucky enough to squeeze into Cicero’s Basement Bar in St. Louis in 1989 or the Blue Note in Columbia . Missouri in 1993 to watch Uncle Tupelo play a show. Even way back then, Jay Farrar was a riveting live performer.