Trace (Son Volt album)

Trace
Studio album by
Son Volt
ReleasedSeptember 19, 1995 (1995-09-19)
RecordedNovember–December 1994
StudioSalmagundi, Northfield, MN
GenreAlternative country
Length42:07
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Son Volt chronology
Trace
(1995) 		Straightaways
(1997)
Singles from Trace
  1. "Windfall"
    Released: September 4, 1995[1]
  2. "Drown"
    Released: October 31, 1995[2]
  3. "Loose String"
    Released: December 1995
  4. "Route"
    Released: June 1996

Trace is the debut studio album by American rock band Son Volt, released on September 19, 1995, through Warner Bros. Records. The band was formed the previous year by Jay Farrar after the breakup of the influential alt-country band Uncle Tupelo. Prior to its release, there was debate about whether Son Volt or Wilco, Uncle Tupelo's other offshoot, would produce a better album.

Trace was a critical and commercial success, and peaked at number 166 on the Billboard 200 chart and number 7 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. The album's second single, "Drown", was a radio hit, and charted at number 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 25 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart (and was their only single to make either chart).[3] By 2009, Trace had sold 297,000 copies in the United States, and outsold Wilco's A.M., released six months before, two-to-one.[4][5][6] It is Son Volt's only album to outsell Wilco.

  1. ^ Borzillo, Carrie (September 16, 1995). "Uncle's Offspring | Popular Uprisings". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 37. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 21.
  2. ^ Anon. (October 20, 1995). "Son Volt Hopes to Rise" (PDF). R&R (1117): 30. ISSN 0277-4860 – via worldradiohistory.com.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference BillboardCharts was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Ayers, Michael D. (2009-08-13). "Death Cab's Ben Gibbard, Jay Farrar Team Up For Kerouac Soundtrack". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  5. ^ "Charting Wilco's Course". Billboard. 21 April 2007. p. 22. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  6. ^ Fricke, David (March 20, 1997). "Not Just a Country Rock Band". Rolling Stone.