Notes of Blue is the name of Son Volt’s eighth studio album, which is due to be released in February 2017. The alternative-country band was created after the breakup of a group called Uncle Tupelo. (The band broke up over creative differences.) Bandmate Jeff Tweedy went on to form the band Wilco, while frontman Jay Farrar formed Son Volt and released a premiere album called Trace in 1995.
Son Volt’s sound is a mix of genres, really. Some songs are more rock-focused, like “Route” and “Drown” while others like “Tear Stained Eye” and “Ten Second News” slow down the pace a bit, stirring that darker alternative sound that was popular in the mid-90s. The band continued to push their sounds as albums went on, celebrating their country side in Honky Tonk–proving even more so than ever that Son Volt is the alt-country band on the music scene.
The band has just celebrated the twenty-year anniversary of Trace, which, regardless after the band’s mini hiatus in the early 2000s and rearranging its members, is an incredible accomplishment. It isn’t everyday that you hear of bands still together for that long, continuing to discover new ways of expressing themselves in their genre and still figuring a way to surprise their fans and keep them interested. With so much history and so many songs, Son Volt’s tour is not something to be missed.
Bowery Ballroom
4/7
9 p.m.
$22.50
ticketfly.com