South Farwell

    South Farwell is a band almost too earnest for its own good. “Just make me sound witty and charming,” laughs lead singer, Bill Boles over the phone. It comes at the end of an interview that has seen Boles dish out plenty of both aforementioned qualities, but perhaps even more pervasive than wit or charm is the feeling of earnestness that Boles emanates. He believes in his band, he believes in his songs, and (most refreshingly) he believes in the pure and simple beauty of a life restarted.

    Boles is perhaps best known as an integral cog in the local “porch-rock” band Easychair. Boles joined the group in 2001 at the tender age of 21, and continued until they started to wave in 2007. The years since the band broke up have seen Boles grow as a singer-songwriter, opening up for local acts at venues across the Chippewa Valley. As Boles says, South Farwell was a natural progression from where he was as a songwriter.

    “With Easychair it was a great guitar-driven rock sound, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve found that I’m much more into people like Patty Griffin and Ray Lamontagne. Really personal singer/songwriters.”

    The result is the beautiful Tear Everything Down, coming out July 10. Boles, along with Tim Coughlin, Phil Juodis, and Cory Dahl evoke the spirit of early Springsteen, Ray Lamontagne, and even local favorites DeYarmond Edison.

    “It’s weird,” says Dahl. “We originally started three years ago, then had to stop (for various reasons) ... we restarted last year with some of the same material, but completely revised it.”