May 11. A giant of the Americana-indie axis, Jay Farrar co-founded Uncle Tupelo with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and his own Son Volt. Now solo, Farrar, who plays Club Helsinki this month, is such a Woody Guthrie worshipper that he plays a guitar made from artifacts gathered from the site of the folk icon’s childhood home (!). His own music, however, hews closely to modern alt-country touchstones like the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and R.E.M. Farrar’s recent projects have included Gob Iron, a band he formed with Varnaline’s Anders Parker, and the soundtrack to the Jack Kerouac documentary One Fast Move or I’m Gone, a collaboration with Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. Here he appears in a duo with multi-instrumentalist Gary Hunt. Peter Bruntnell opens. (Todd Park Mohr jams May 3; Sharon Van Etten sings May 9.) 8pm. $20, $25. Hudson. (518) 828-4800; Helsinkihudson.com.
This article appears in May 2014.
