Grade: A-

CD » When Jay Farrar left the seminal alt-country band Uncle Tupelo in 1994, his first effort with his new band, Son Volt, was "Trace," an elegant, melodic folk album that continued his tendencies toward the Dust Bowl ballads of Woody Guthrie. In the years since, he has wavered in that commitment, seeming to have lost his muse. He never regained the quiet perfection of "Trace." For fans, the wait is over with Son Volt's "American Central Dust," which doesn't feel like a retread, but instead an harrowing evocation of hope-tinged despair over nuanced, strummed acoustic guitars, tremolo-soaked pedal and lap steels and concise, yet sharp, lyrical imagery. Farrar, who performs with his band Friday at Snowbird, has never written better lines, including an ode to Keith Richards on "Cocaine and Ashes" and a song about a 19th-century maritime disaster, "Sultana," that serves as a powerful metaphor for these tough times.

-- David Burger