Chattanooga Pulse

Sometimes it turns out that there is more than one awesome thing happening in our little city at the same time. This week is one of those times. We have Son Volt coming to Rhythm & Brews to support a new album and we have local favorites The Nim Nims releasing a new album at JJ’s Bohemia. I have the scoop on both things, so let’s get down to business. When I spoke to Jay Farrar, the front man of Son Volt and formerly of Uncle Tupelo, to ask him about the new album, American Central Dust, this is what he had to say:

Hellcat: Did you have any particular album theme?

Jay Farrar: I set out to write with no plan. I like to make it as organic as possible. The songs are about a number of different things.

HC: Tell me about some of them.

JF: “Wheels Don’t Move” is about gas prices getting high and making it hard to get started out as a musician. It was written about a year ago when gas was getting up to $4 and $5 a gallon. The song is about how tough it would be to start out as a band at that time, because it was too expensive to travel to your own shows, particularly if you were a new band.

HC: Yes, it was pretty expensive to breathe around that time.

JF: “Cocaine Ashes” is a tribute to Keith Richards, because in an interview a few years back, he was talking about his drug use, and the passing of his father and he said that he had mixed his father’s ashes with cocaine and snorted them, because he couldn’t resist such a tribute to his father. But I also thought it was very brave and honest that he would just come out and say it, so the song is my tribute to Keith.

HC: Wow, that’s pretty intense. What are you listening to right now?

JF: Well, Keith Richards inspired me to pick up the piano, when I heard him on piano on a bootleg recording, playing a song that I believe is called “Learning the Game”. Rolling Stones, more old stuff. I feel like there are a lot of pivotal moments in music and I am still trying to listen to all of them. I try to take it all in, as much as seems realistic. I like A A Bondy, with former members of Verbena.

HC: What’s your favorite song on this album and why?

JF: The first song, “Dynamite”, because I’ve always had this internal information saying not to use the words “love” and “heart” because they are overused, so I tried to stay away from that the whole time I’ve been writing songs. But I went back to it and used them both in this song. In a way, it was kind of liberating.

Now, on to The Nim Nims. I don’t have any problem saying that I love this album. It’s called Patten Towers, and as I was a fan of the first one, you might wonder why this one has me all riled up. The sound and the feel is a little more honed. It’s just good. The lyrics, the beats, and the layering are all pretty awesome, and I would have trouble finding a complaint about any of it. But I will let the boys give you their thoughts on it.

HC: How is this album different than the first?

Blake Defoor: The production guy, Steven Nichols, of As Elyzum really made it. The layers that he added to, like, every song, makes it much more pleasing to the ear.

Clay: I feel the album captures the essence of what we are trying to do as a band. The sound and tone of the album is what we try to impart.

HC: What about the songwriting process? Did it stay the same?

BD: Half of the songs are really old, like “Narcissistic Delight”, and half of them are really new, as in they were written in the studio, like we were writing them as we were recording them. “Pills” and “Vindicated” were actually written in the studio, and those would have to be my favorites.

HC: What makes them your favorite?

BD: I like the lyrics to them and they are about everyday things that actually happened.

HC: I love that about your songs. You had a few on the last album like that. I like the song “Pills”.

BD: Yeah, that’s just about the whole cliché of having a pill that fixes something and messes something else up. Like a pill for anxiety that gives you insomnia.

HC: How does it feel to have a new album out?

BD: It’s exciting. I can’t wait for people to hear it. I like the old album, but his one just sounds like we wanted it to sound.

Son Volt
Saturday, November 21
10 p.m.
Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St.
(423) 267-4644.
www.rhythm-brews.com

The Nim Nims
Saturday, November 21
10 p.m.
JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.
(423) 266-1400.
www.myspace.com/jjsbohemia