While I oh-so-paiently await that long overdo Uncle Tupelo reunion (come on already, we ain’t getting any younger!) I will find solace in the upcoming release of the 20th anniversary version of Son Volt’s spectacular acclaimed debut album, ‘Trace.’
This fall, Jay Farrar will celebrate the anniversary by putting out a deluxe version digitally remastered from the original analog masters. Farrar was heavily involved in the remastering process and contributes highlighted track commentary to the liner notes, which also feature a contribution from No Depression magazine founder Peter Blackstock.
In addition to every song from the 1995 original album, the first disc also features previously unreleased demos for eight album tracks, including “Drown,” “Live Free,” “Windfall,” and an acoustic version of the rocker “Route.” The two-disc version of ‘Trace’ features newly remastered sound and more than two dozen unreleased bonus tracks will be available October 30, 2015, for a suggested retail price of $24.98. The original album will also be re-issued on 180-gram vinyl for $24.98.
Son Volt will also hit the road with original pedal steel player, Eric Heywood, along with multi-instrumentalist, Gary Hunt. The tour is billed as “Jay Farrar Performs Songs Of Trace” and tickets for the tour will go on-sale Friday, August 14. For more information please go to www.sonvolt.net.
The dates will begin with a special AmericanaFest performance at 3rd & Lindsley on September 20. Farrar will also bring the tour to New York City on October 30, and on the same day, Rhino will release a two-disc version of Trace that features newly remastered sound and more than two dozen unreleased bonus tracks.
The second disc contains an unreleased live performance recorded at The Bottom Line in New York’s Greenwich Village on February 12, 1996. At the show, the band played nearly every song from Trace , covered Del Reeves’ “Looking At The World Through A Windshield,” and performed “Cemetery Savior,” a tune that wouldn’t surface until the following year on Son Volt’s sophomore release, Straightaways.
The show also features songs originally recorded by Uncle Tupelo, the vastly influential alt-country band that Farrar started with Jeff Tweedy in the Eighties. Among the standouts are: “Slate,” “True to Life” and the title track from the band’s final album Anodyne (1993).
Track Listing
Disc One
1. “Windfall”
2. “Live Free”
3. “Tear Stained Eye”
4. “Route”
5. “Ten Second News”
6. “Drown”
7. “Loose String”
8. “Out Of The Picture”
9. “Catching On”
10. “Too Early”
11. “Mystifies Me”
12. “Route” -Acoustic Demo*
13. “Drown” – Demo*
14. “Out Of The Picture” – Demo*
15. “Loose String” – Demo*
16. “Live Free” – Demo*
17. “Too Early” – Demo*
18. “Catching On” – Demo*
19. “Windfall” – Demo*
Disc Two: Live from Bottom Line 2/12/96
1. “Route”*
2. “Loose String”*
3. “Catching On”*
4. “Live Free”*
5. “Anodyne”*
6. “Windfall”*
7. “Slate”*
8. “Out of the Picture”*
9. “Tear Stained Eye”*
10. “True to Life”*
11. “Cemetery Savior”*
12. “Ten Second News”*
13. “Fifteen Keys”*
14. “Drown”*
15. “Looking For a Way Out”*
16. “Chickamauga”*
17. “Too Early”*
18. “Looking at the World Through a Windshield” – Del Reeves cover*
*previously unreleased
JAY FARRAR PERFOMS SONGS OF TRACE – 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
SEPTEMBER
20 3rd & Lindsley (AmericanaFest) Nashville, TN
OCTOBER
28 The Birchmere
29 Ardmore Music Hall
30 City Winery Alexandria, VA
Ardmore, PA
New York, NY
DECEMBER
2 The Troubadour
3 Slim’s
5 Aladdin Theatre
6 Tractor Tavern
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Portland, OR
Seattle, WA