The Jayhawks | |
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 The Jayhawks in 2011 | |
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| Origin | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
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| Website | jayhawksofficial |
The Jayhawks are an Americanalternative country andcountry rock band that emerged from theTwin Cities music scene in the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists/guitarists/songwritersGary Louris andMark Olson, their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s, such asUncle Tupelo, theGear Daddies and theHoneydogs. They have released eleven studio albums, with and without Olson (who left the band for the first time in 1995), including five on theAmerican Recordings label. After going on hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1995 lineup of the band reunited and released the albumMockingbird Time in September 2011; Olson left the band for the second time after the tour to promote the album. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums originally released between 1997 and 2003. Since then, the band has continued to tour and record, releasing the albumsLive at The Belly Up in 2015;Paging Mr. Proust, co-produced byPeter Buck andTucker Martine, in 2016;Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018; andXOXO in 2020.
The Jayhawks was formed in 1984 by Minneapolis musiciansMark Olson (guitar and vocals) and Caleb Palmiter (bass),[1] with the duo adding Tommy Rey (drums) for its first shows. In 1985 the short-lived trio was relaunched as a four-piece band after Olson recruited Steve Retzler (guitar), Marc Perlman (bass), and Norm Rogers (drums). Later that yearGary Louris (guitar and vocals) replaced Retzler.
Their first album,The Jayhawks, was released by Bunkhouse Records, a small independent label, in 1986. Their music at the time, mostly written by Olson, showed a strongroots/country rock influence. Rogers left and was replaced by Thad Spencer, and the band worked for the next years on demo tapes in search of a majorlabelrecording contract. During this period, Louris left the band briefly (following a car accident) and Dan Gaarder replaced him. Louris returned, and the collected demos from 1986 to 1989 were brought together to createBlue Earth, released on the Minneapolis label Twin Tone in 1989. On this album Louris shared more of the songwriting with Olson. After touring the U.S. in support ofBlue Earth, Spencer left the band and was replaced in 1988 by Ken Callahan, who stayed with the band until 1993.[2]
In 1991, Dave Ayers, the head of A&R for Twin Tone, was on a phone call withA&R representativeGeorge Drakoulias ofDef American whileBlue Earth played in the background. Drakoulias asked about the music and eventually met with and signed the band to the label later that year.[3]
In 1992 the Jayhawks had their major label release,Hollywood Town Hall, onDef American.[3] The album was produced by Drakoulias and recorded primarily in Los Angeles and atPachyderm Recording Studio in Minnesota. Though Louris's fuzzy guitar was at the forefront, a clear folksy influence was also emerging in Olson and Louris's songwriting. The album was successful, powered by the single "Waiting for the Sun", and it brought the Jayhawks a wider fan base.[4][5] Adding Karen Grotberg on keyboards and vocals, the bandtoured extensively.[3]
That year Olson, Louris and Perlman, along with Olson's longtime friend and future collaborator in theOriginal Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, Mike Russell, were recruited byJoe Henry as the backing band for his album "Short Man's Room" and its 1993 followup, "Kindness of the World."
In 1995 they went into the studio to produceTomorrow the Green Grass on the renamedAmerican Recordings label. The lead track, "Blue", was aTop 40 hit inCanada (peaking at No. 33), but the record's production had been very expensive and the album failed to sell as expected in the U.S.[5] Among the album's songs is "Miss Williams' Guitar", a love song for Olson's then-girlfriend, singer-songwriterVictoria Williams (the pair later married, but divorced in February 2006). Drummer, singer and songwriter Tim O'Reagan joined the band for the 1995 tour; session drummer Don Heffington had played on the album.[2]
By the end of 1995, Olson unexpectedly left the band to spend more time with Williams (with whom he would later form theOriginal Harmony Ridge Creekdippers). The band continued to record as the Jayhawks, adding Kraig Johnson on guitar. Johnson, another Minneapolis musical fixture, had played in the seminal SST band Run Westy Run, Iffy andGolden Smog.[4]
The Jayhawks releasedSound of Lies in 1997, with Louris composing most of the songs and allowing all of his influences a share in the proceedings. The result mixed straight rock (the ironic "Big Star"), psychedelic, acoustic (the title track) and even some dub elements, taking the band far from its country-influenced origins.[5]
Smile (2000), produced byBob Ezrin, had more of a pop music feel (which utilized new sounds for the band, like drum loops and synthesizers), jarring some of the band's long-time fans. TheNew York Times positively reviewed the album, but in a nod to the band's lack of widespread recognition, titled the review "What If You Made a Classic and No One Cared?"[5] Though still a member through the recording of the album, a pregnant Grotberg left the band before theSmile tour[6] and was replaced by Jen Gunderman. The song "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" appeared in aRalph Lauren commercial, the second soundtrack released from Dawson's CreekSongs from Dawson's Creek Volume 2,[7] and the 2001 filmAll Over the Guy.[8]
Rainy Day Music (2003), was stripped down, more acoustic, and generally seen as a return to their alt-country roots ("Tailspin," "Stumbling Through the Dark," "You Look So Young"). The band now consisted of founding members Louris and Perlman, along with drummer O'Reagan and touring band member ex-Long Ryder Stephen McCarthy, from Richmond, Virginia, who also played withJohnny Hott and the Piedmont Surprise. McCarthy added pedal steel, lap steel, banjo, guitar and backing vocals to the album and subsequent live shows.[9] This lineup toured in 2003 and early 2004, including their first appearance on PBS's long-running seriesAustin City Limits.[10] The band's final show was inValencia,Spain.
In addition to their studio albums, the Jayhawks releasedLive from the Women's Club, an all-acoustic live recording of Louris, Perlman and O'Reagan from 2002. It was sold only at concerts as an "Official Jayhawks Bootleg." It includes the demo of the original version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", called "Someone Will", and a cover ofDavid Wiffen's "(Lost My) Driving Wheel", originally popularized byTom Rush.[11] A follow-up,Live from the Women's Club 2, contains the rest of the concert, including a cover ofTim Hardin's "Reason to Believe" and a rendition of "Jennifer Save Me" fromGolden Smog, the alt/country supergroup of which Louris was a founding member (and which Perlman later joined).[12]
Both old and new Jayhawks members progressed to solo efforts and side projects, and the band as a whole was generally considered to be broken up and not expected to produce new material soon. However, the band members appeared to have kept in touch, tour together in their other projects, and reunited on occasion.[2] Olson and Louris toured together in the winter of 2005 and spring of 2006, billed as "From the Jayhawks: An Evening withMark Olson &Gary Louris, Together Again."[2][13][14]
In September 2008, the 1995 lineup of Louris, Olson, O'Reagan, Grotberg and Perlman reunited briefly[15][16] for the Azkena Rock Festival inVitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
In January 2009, Olson and Louris released an acoustic album,Ready for the Flood.[17]
In April 2009,Billboard reported that the Jayhawks had reunited. The band's mid-1990s lineup played two shows that summer, one atBarcelona'sPrimavera Sound Festival on May 30 and one at Minneapolis's Basilica Block Party on July 10. Band co-leader Louris toldBillboard that the reunion would be a part-time thing: "I think the plan is that we're going to play festivals. Next year, we're hoping to play Bonnaroo and things like that. We'll see if it grows from there."[14]
In July 2009, Sony Legacy and American Recordings releasedMusic from the North Country, The Jayhawks Anthology, a project supervised by Louris. The standard CD features highlights from the band's studio albums, while a deluxe version adds rarities, B-sides, and unreleased material, as well as a DVD of the band's music videos.[2][18]
On May 18, 2010, the initial releaseThe Jayhawks was digitally remastered from reel-to-reel and reissued on Lost Highway Records. The re-release features an eleven-page booklet designed by Olson.[19] In fall 2010, the Jayhawks returned to the recording studio, planning to have a new album out by spring or early summer 2011.[20]
In January 2011,Legacy Recordings reissued collector's editions of bothHollywood Town Hall andTomorrow the Green Grass, each featuring outtakes and B-sides.Tomorrow the Green Grass features a second disc, entitledThe Mystery Demos, featuring tracks from two recording sessions with Olson and Louris in 1992. Prior to the release ofThe Mystery Demos, several of the featured tracks had been re-recorded and released on various Jayhawks related albums, such as Olson's solo release,The Salvation Blues and the Olson–Louris collaborationReady for the Flood. To celebrate the release of the reissues, the Jayhawks—Louris, Olson, Perlman, Grotberg, and O'Reagan—launched a concert mini-tour in January 2011, with shows inToronto (January 18),New York City (January 20 and 21),Philadelphia (January 22),Chicago (January 27 and 28), andMinneapolis (January 29). For the January 20 show at New York'sWebster Hall, the band performedHollywood Town Hall in its entirety, followed by the completeTomorrow the Green Grass the following evening.[21]
In 2011 the band reunited again and recorded a new studio album. The lineup consisted of Olson, Louris, Perlman, Grotberg, and O'Reagan, and, as Louris said, "Our goal is to make the best Jayhawks album that's ever been done". Eighteen songs were recorded, 16 of them new, but only 12 made it to the final release.[22] The album,Mockingbird Time, was released September 20.[20] From 2009 to 2012 this lineup performed over 100 shows in North America and Europe before once again going on hiatus in the fall of 2012.[23]
2014 saw new activity from the band once again. The final phase of the career-spanning reissue project started in 2009 commenced in the summer of 2014 with the reissue (on CD and LP) of the three albums the band made after Olson left in 1995:Sound of Lies (1997),Smile (2000) andRainy Day Music (2003). The reissues, on American Recordings/UME, feature bonus tracks, new liner notes and fresh remastering from original analog sources by Vic Anesini.[24] Deluxe two-LP vinyl editions were also released; this was the first vinyl release in the U.S. ofSmile and the first time vinyl copies ofSound of Lies andRainy Day Music had been available after having been long out of print.[25] Most of the 1997 touring lineup (Louris, Perlman, O'Reagan, Grotberg and Johnson) toured in 2014 and 2015 to support the reissues, concentrating on material from the 1997–2004 era of the band that had largely gone unplayed in concert for over a decade.[26][27] The band releasedLive at the Belly-Up, a digital-only album[28] on April 7, 2015.
The band announced in September 2015 that they were recording a new studio album with the 2014–2015 lineup. The album was recorded in Portland, Oregon, withPeter Buck fromR.E.M andTucker Martine producing.[29] In January 2016 The Jayhawks announced on their Tumblr account that their new album would be titledPaging Mr. Proust and it was released on April 29, 2016 on Thirty Tigers.[30] Kraig Johnson left the band again before the release ofPaging Mr. Proust. Jeff "Chet" Lyster was added as a touring member on guitar, pedal steel and background vocals prior to the 2016 tour.
The band collaborated withRay Davies, formerly ofThe Kinks, for an album released in April, 2017 titledAmericana, based on Davies' experiences in the USA.[31][32]
The Jayhawks also backedWesley Stace on his 2017 albumWesley Stace's John Wesley Harding.
Norm Rogers, the band's drummer from 1984 to 1988, died on February 19, 2018.[33]
2018 saw The Jayhawks backingRay Davies again on his albumOur Country - Americana Act II (released June 2018) as well as releasing their own albumBack Roads and Abandoned Motels (July 2018). The band also recorded "What Would I Dreamer Do?" for the compilation albumForever Words, setting lyrics byJohnny Cash to music for the first time.
On July 13, 2018 the Jayhawks releasedBack Roads and Abandoned Motels on Sony Legacy Recordings label, featuring new fifth memberJohn Jackson, who co-produced the album and served previously as a touring member on some tour dates since 2014.
The band has been honored with a star on the outside mural of theMinneapolis nightclubFirst Avenue,[34] recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.[35] Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh.[36]
In 2020, the core lineup of Louris, Perlman, O'Reagan, and Grotberg released the new album,XOXO, that featured songwriting and lead vocals from each member of the band. Previous / part-time membersJohn Jackson andStephen McCarthy recorded on select songs, as well. The band appeared on theCBS This Morning: Saturday national morning show on June 27, 2020. The band resumed touring in 2021, with multiple dates on the Fall 2021 tour featuring McCarthy in the performing lineup for just the second time in 17 years.
Since the departure of John Jackson as a full-time member, the current lineup of the Jayhawks consists of:
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