Artist · chart history · #319 in indie & aaa artist polls
Son Volt
Band St. Louis United States Formed 1994
Son Volt formed in 1994 in St. Louis, United States. Son Volt has 76 chart appearances on 59 radio countdowns from 16 stations on RockLists, spanning 1996–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Windfall”, which appears on 16 lists with a best position of #83. The station that charted Son Volt most often is The Colorado Sound (Fort Collins–Denver, CO), with 16 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2009.
Son Volt rose out of the wreckage of Uncle Tupelo. When that band broke up, Jay Farrar headed off and formed Son Volt in 1994, and the first album, Trace, in 1995, is the sound of a man picking up exactly where he left off and then some. "Windfall" drifts along like an old radio signal fading in and out on a midnight highway, and "Drown" kicks up the dust with a big, snarling rock riff.
Farrar's voice is the anchor, a weathered, plainspoken voice that sounds older than he was, and the band around him, with players like J. Kardong on pedal steel, mixes alternative rock, folk rock and Americana into something that became a pillar of the '90s alt-country movement.
They went on indefinite hiatus in 2001 and came back in 2004, with Farrar the one constant through a revolving cast. Notes of Blue, in 2017, brought "Back Against the Wall", and the current lineup has Farrar alongside Mark Patterson on drums and Mark Spencer on keyboards and steel guitar.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Son Volt on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windfall | 16 | #83 | – | – | |
| 2 | Drown | 27 | #119 | – | – | |
| 3 | Tears Stained Eye | 8 | #196 | – | – | |
| 4 | Down to the Wire | 3 | #41 | – | 2009 | |
| 5 | Back Against The Wall | 4 | #46 | – | 2017 | |
| 6 | Medicine Hat | 1 | #373 | – | – | |
| 7 | Living In The USA | 4 | #75 | – | 2021 | |
| 8 | Open All Night | 1 | #426 | – | – | |
| 9 | The Search | 1 | #507 | – | – | |
| 10 | Reverie | 1 | #52 | – | 2021 | |
| 11 | Is Anybody Goin' To San Antone (Live) | 1 | #483 | – | – | |
| 12 | Devil May Care | 2 | #65 | – | 2019 | |
| 13 | Cherokee St. | 1 | #701 | – | – | |
| 14 | Bandages & Scars | 2 | #832 | – | – | |
| 15 | Sometimes You've Got To Stop Chasing Rainbows | 1 | #680 | – | – | |
| 16 | Hearts and Minds | 1 | #86 | – | 2013 | |
| 17 | Mystifies Me | 1 | #803 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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