December 26: Happy 51st Birthday Jay Farrar

As a founding member of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, songwriter Jay Farrar helped popularize the alt-country movement of the 1990s. He also launched a solo career during the following decade, making it plain that his musical ambitions stretched far beyond the retro-leaning twang of his contemporaries.
~Mark Deming (allmusic.com)

“Woody has always been a reference point for me, as well a source of inspiration along the way. I was brought up around his music at a pretty early age, … The reference in the song relates more to the way my own children have become fans, I guess (laughs). If there was no Highway 61, we may not have had Bob Dylan or Leadbelly .”
~Jay Farrar

Son Volt – Windfall (Austin City Limits, 1996)

Wikipedia:

Born	December 26, 1966 (age 51) Belleville, Illinois
Genres	Alternative country
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Years active	1984–present
Labels	Giant/Rockville Records Sire Records Warner Bros. Artemis Records Act/Resist Legacy Recordings
Associated acts	Uncle Tupelo Son Volt Gob Iron

Jay Farrar (born December 26, 1966 in Belleville, Illinois) is an American songwriter and musician currently based in St. Louis, Missouri. A veteran of two critically acclaimed music groups, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his established talents as a songwriter, he is a guitarist, harmonicist, and a vocalist.

Son Volt – Hearts And Minds:

Album of the day

Son Volt – Honky Tonk (2013):

Youtube:

Spotify:

Other December 26:

• Phillip Harvey “Phil” Spector (born Harvey Phillip Spector, December 26, 1939) is an American record producer, songwriter, and the originator of the “Wall of Sound” production method. In later years, he gained infamy as the subject of a murder conviction.
• Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an African-American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly regarded as a pioneer of funk and of politically conscious African-American music. He was also a multi-instrumentalist who played the guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, and drums. Curtis Mayfield is a winner of both the Grammy Legend Award (in 1994) and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (in 1995), and was a double inductee into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted as a member of The Impressions into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He is also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.

-Egil & Hallgeir