NON-COMM Recap: Jay Farrar is cool, calm, and soulful on the NPR Music stage

Jay Farrar | photo by Makena Duffy for WXPN

Jay Farrar‘s soulful folk sound graced the NPR Music stage Friday afternoon for the last day of NonCOMM. While he softly strummed his acoustic guitar, his Son Volt bandmate Mark Spencer backed him up on electric. He harmonized with Farrar on a few songs; their vocals joined beautifully together for the chorus of “Devil May Care.”

Before singing “Union”, a newly released track, Farrar made a statement about there being protests about everything lately. He continued to tell this story through song while Spencer killed it on steel guitar. The mood was brought back up as the set concluded with “Windfall”, a two-decade-old Son Volt song.

The crowd was singing along to Farrar’s set and there was a feeling of mutual respect flowing between the performer and his audience. He has a stage presence that’s just plain cool. Not everyone can wear sunglasses inside without looking like a total jerk.

Farrar announced the upcoming release of a video for “The 99”. Keep an eye out for it, and check out Farrar’s solo stuff as well as Son Volt’s latest album Union out now.