Jay Farrar, Ryan Adams, Vic Chesnutt and Neko Case are among the alt-country veterans featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming independent film The Slaughter Rule, which debuted last month at the Sundance Film Festival. Farrar -- who previously fronted Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt -- is also responsible for the film's instrumental score, which he wrote and recorded at his St. Louis-area studio.

While a release date for the soundtrack has yet to be set -- issuing label Bloodshot Records is waiting for the film's release and distribution details to get sorted -- the disc will host a number of rarities, including Uncle Tupelo's long-lost cover of Gram Parsons' "Blue Eyes," which appeared on the 1993 Parsons' tribute, Conmemorativo. The album, mostly composed of old country and bluegrass covers, also boasts previously unreleased material by Chesnutt, the Blood Oranges, the Pernice Brothers and Farrar.

Track listing for The Slaughter Rule soundtrack (excluding the score):

Jay Farrar, "Gather"
Vic Chesnutt, "Rank Strangers (To Me)"
Freakwater, "When I Stop Dreaming"
Wylie & the Wild West, "Odessa Yodel"
Blood Oranges, "Gaterhing Flowers for the Master's Banquet"
Ryan Adams, "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)"
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant, "West of Samoa"
Neko Case, "Porchlight"
Flatlanders, "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown"
Malcolm Holcombe, "Killing the Blues"
Uncle Tupelo, "Blue Eyes"
Pernice Brothers, "Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown"

JOHN D. LUERSSEN
(February 22, 2002)