Jay Farrar

Posted by Campbell at Sunday, May 07, 2006

Back in 1995, while wading through my junior year in college, I was desperately trying to figure out what to do with my life. I was majoring in sociology, taking a lot of black studies courses, and thinking that my career would take me to a possible phd in sociology. Though I was passionate about this line of studies, there was something missing. I was looking for something that would take me to that next level. Something that would grab my soul and clear up my career uncertainty.

Right around this time I saw Son Volt at the Mercury Lounge in New York City for the first time. After watching Jay Farrar, Jim Boquist, Dave Boquist and Mike Heidorn play one of the most inspiring rock n' roll shows I'd ever seen, I left the venue that night knowing what I'd do with my life. Music. Something, anything in music. I went on to spend the next decade spending countless nights out seeing live music. Wilco, Steve Earle, Springsteen, The Gourds, Slobberbone, Centro-matic, Elliott Smith, The V-Roys, Whiskeytown, Kelly Willis, Richard Buckner, Bob Dylan, The Damnations, Joe Henry. I couldn't get enough.

My career started out doing a summer internship at Bar None Records in Hoboken, NJ. Since then I've worked my way through music publishing, music television, business affairs, mobile music, music management, and I'm now working with indie bands and artists in the digital space. For the most part, I've loved working in this world. It allows me to be closer to the art that fuels my soul.

Last night at The Fillmore in San Francisco, I watched the Drive-By Truckers tear the joint up, followed by Son Volt. When Son Volt hit the stage, my buddy and I headed right to the front of the stage. Jay's new incarnation of Son Volt isn't what they were back in the mid-to-late 90s, but it's still Jay Farrar. His music is one of the main reasons that music essentially shaped my career and ultimately, my life. "Chickamauga" closed the set. The houselights came on and I stood there with chills up-and-down my spine. It wasn't the first time, and it certainly won't be the last.