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SON VOLT RETURNS WITH 'AMERICAN CENTRAL DUST,' ON ROUNDER RECORDS
Son Volt returns with ‘American Central Dust,’ which was released on July 7th on Rounder Records, a plaintive 12-song collection that recalls the melodic succinctness of the band’s debut album ‘Trace.’ After the musical experimentation of 2007’s ‘The Search, ’ ‘American Central Dust,’ the band’s first album on Rounder, refines the band’s robust sound. Fiddle, pedal steel, lap steel and sparkling piano add an atmospheric nuance to Son Volt’s Americana inspired rock, surrounding band leader Jay Farrar’s stream of consciousness lyrical imagery.

Album highlights include; the rootsy shuffle of album opener “Dynamite,” on which Farrar declares “this love is like celebrating the 4th of July with dynamite,” the tremolo soaked rocker “Down To The Wire,’ the gorgeous, piano led “Cocaine And Ashes,” an empathetic tribute to Keith Richards, references a man who’s “the same as everyone, just kind of lucky,” and ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’-esque rocker “No Turning Back.”

When asked about signing to the new label, Farrar said "Rounder has shown a long term commitment to music forms, like folk and blues, that I have a lot of respect for. Going with Rounder has been a kind of a full circle continuum -- the first Rounder person I met with was instrumental in booking Uncle Tupelo gigs years ago"

‘American Central Dust’ features Jay Farrar (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Dave Bryson (drums), Andrew Duplantis (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chris Masterson (lead guitar), Mark Spencer (keyboards, steel guitar). Son Volt’s national tour begins in July.

‘American Central Dust’ tracklist: 1. Dynamite 2. Down To The Wire 3. Roll On 4. Cocaine And Ashes 5. Dust Of Daylight 6. When The Wheels Don’t Move 7. No Turning Back 8. Pushed Too Far 9. Exiles 10. Sultana 11. Strength And Doubt 12. Jukebox of Steel

JAY FARRAR AND BENJAMIN GIBBARD JOIN FORCES FOR NEW ALBUM INSPIRED BY JACK
ONE FAST MOVE OR I'M GONE: KEROUAC'S BIG SUR OUT OCT 20 ON F-STOP/ATLANTIC

One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, a new album featuring 12 original songs composed and performed by Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie--with lyrics based on the prose of Jack Kerouac's landmark 1962 novel Big Sur--is set for an October 20 release on F-Stop/Atlantic Records along with a feature-length documentary of the same title in which both Gibbard and Farrar appear.

Gibbard and Farrar, having never previously met, discovered a mutual kinship in their passion for Kerouac's work while recording several songs for the documentary, produced by Kerouac Films.

After the initial San Francisco recording session in July 2007, they decided to develop the project further to create an album using Kerouac's own words from the book as the lyrics.

Big Sur, is an evocative account of a time in Jack's life when he'd “come undone,” both emotionally and spiritually.  He escapes to a cabin in Big Sur to confront his inner demons and find a modicum of peace by the sea.

Gibbard stayed in the original cabin Kerouac wrote about, to compose songs for his band's 2008 Grammy-nominated album, Narrow Stairs.  For many years, Jay Farrar's songwriting has been inspired and influenced by Kerouac's compositional style.

Jim Sampas, (Badlands, Kerouac--kicks joy darkness) is executive producer of the album. The documentary, One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, is directed by Curt Worden and produced by Gloria Bailen and Jim Sampas of Kerouac Films. The film features appearances by writers, poets, actors and musicians including, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Sam Shepard. The album and film will be released on October 20, the day before the 40th anniversary of Kerouac¹s death, as a stand alone CD, a CD/DVD package, a limited edition boxed set packaged with the novel, a 40-page book on the documentary and the CD/DVD.  The album will additionally be released on vinyl.

TRACK LISTING: 1. California Zephyr 2. Low Life Kingdom 3. Willamine 4. All In One 5. Breathe Our Iodine 6. These Roads Don't Move 7. Big Sur 8. One Fast Move Or I'm Gone 9. Final Horrors 10. Sea Engines 11. The Void 12. San Francisco

JAY FARRAR & BENJAMIN GIBBARD SET FOUR SPECIAL KEROUAC CONCERTS
Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard will perform songs from their collaborative album One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, along with other surprise material, at four concerts in October, underscoring the influential author's enduring legacy 40 years after his death on October 21, 1969.

The band features Jay Farrar (Son Volt), Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service), Nick Harmer (Death Cab for Cutie), Mark Spencer (Son Volt) and Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Bob Mould, The Mountain Goats).

JAY FARRAR & BENJAMIN GIBBARD TOUR DATES
10/23 – El Rey Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
10/24 – Bimbo’s 365 Club – San Francisco, CA
10/26 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL
10/28 – Webster Hall – New York, NY

One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur (F-Stop/Atlantic) features 12 original songs composed and performed by Farrar and Gibbard, with lyrics based on the prose of Jack Kerouac’s landmark 1962 novel Big Sur. The album will be released October 20 along with a feature-length documentary of the same title in which both Gibbard and Farrar appear.

The documentary, One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur, is directed by Curt Worden and produced by Gloria Bailen and Jim Sampas of Kerouac Films. The film features appearances by writers, poets, actors and musicians including Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Sam Shepard, Patti Smith and Tom Waits.

SON VOLT ON TOUR We have announced dates for August and September. Check the Tour page where dates are posted as they are confirmed!

SON VOLT BLOG, TWITTER & FACEBOOK Check out the Son Volt blog.  Drummer Dave Bryson will be posting comments and photos from the road!  Also, Son Volt is now on Twitter and Facebook. Dave's blog postings will be linked to both Facebook and Twitter.

SON VOLT ON AQUARIUM DRUNKARD Check out AquariumDrunkard.com to read an interview with Jay and download a MP3 of “Down to the Wire”.

SON VOLT ON RUSTED ROBOT Check out RustedRobot.com for an interview with Jay.

SON VOLT ON THE RADIO On Wednesday, July 8, Jay will visit KBCO in Boulder for an on-air interview and solo acoustic performance at 1:00 pm MT.  You can check it out live here. Next week, WDST in Woodstock, NY will feature 'American Central Dust' as the album of the week.  And, July 7 will be Son Volt day on WFUV in New York, NY.  The station will play lots of Son Volt including past live performances an interviews.

OTHER PRESS Check out The Wall Street Journal for a Son Volt feature.  Also, Spin, NY Times, and many other newspapers will be running reviews next week.