LaFarge was born in Bloomington, Illinois. He later moved to St. Louis, Missouri. The nickname “Pokey” was coined by his mother, who would scold him to hurry when he was a child.

LaFarge took an interest in history and literature during his childhood, and was greatly influenced by his grandfathers. One was a member of the St. Louis Banjo Club, who gave Pokey his first guitar and tenor banjo. The other, an amateur historian, taught LaFarge about the American Civil War and World War II.

LaFarge always wanted to be a writer, and had a keen interest in American literature. He enjoyed the writings of John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, and Jack Kerouac. As a teenager, LaFarge combined his appreciation for history and writing with his new discovery of blues music.

During his early teens while living in Normal, Illinois, LaFarge first heard blues in a local pizza parlor run by a man named Juice who played artists like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon. He soon discovered an appreciation for older blues artists, like Skip James, Robert Wilkins, and Sleepy John Estes. After hearing Bill Monroe at age 16, Pokey traded the guitar his grandfather had given him for a mandolin.

After graduating from high school in 2001, LaFarge hitchhiked to the West Coast at age 17, where he earned a living playing music on the sidewalks, streets and pedestrian malls. He continued hitchhiking through the United States, and met Ryan Koenig and Joey Glynn of the St. Louis band The Vultures while he was playing on a street in Asheville, North Carolina. Adam Hoskins joined The Vultures to form the South City Three. The band joined LaFarge in 2009.

Pokey self-released his first record Marmalade in 2006; the same year he toured as mandolin player with The Hackensaw Boys. His second solo album, “Beat, Move & Shake,” was released in 2008 by Big Muddy Records. In 2009, Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three began touring across the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

The group released their first album, Riverboat Soul in 2010 with Free Dirt Records. The album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee over two days in 2009 through Georg Neumann microphones once used by John Hartford and Norman Blake. Riverboat Soul won the Independent Music Award for best Americana album.

In 2011, the group released Chittlin’ Cookin’ Time in Cheatham County with Third Man Records, produced by Jack White, and their second album Middle of Everywhere with Free Dirt Records.

Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three have appeared at the Big Chill Festival (U.K.), the Tønder Festival (Denmark), and the Newport Folk Festival (USA).

The group was featured by NPR on the Tiny Desk Concert series in 2011.

LaFarge wrote a song for the soundtrack of Brick By Chance and Fortune, a documentary directed by friend of the band Bill Streeter, released in 2011.

Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three also opened for The Raconteurs at Ryman Auditorium on September 15, 2011.

On New Year's Eve 2012 the band appeared on the UK BBC2 Jools Holland's Hootenanny television show.

The group also played on "I Guess I Should Go to Sleep" a song off of Blunderbuss by Jack White that was released on April 24, 2012.