The Jayhawks were a band that seemed to have nearly everything going for them. Based out of Minneapolis, and around the vocal and songwriting team of Mark Olson and Gary Louris, The Jayhawks are one of those classic cases of coulda' been, woulda' been, and shoulda' been. They wrote picture perfect, more often than not quite hooky songs that straddled a fine line between pop songcraft and country twang. The songs got modest airplay — mainly on Americana and adult-alternative stations — and the concerts, held mainly in theatre-sized venues, nearly always sold out.
Jayhawks albums like Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow The Green Grass not only sold respectably well, but also earned them near universal critical raves from the nineties forward. They just were never quite able to grab the big, brass ring.
When Mark Olson eventually left to follow his wife Victoria Williams in making a more folk-oriented noise, Louris carried on with the Jayhawks name for a few more years on albums like Smile and Rainy Day Music, before finally calling it a day. Most recently, Louris and Olson reunited on the 2009 album Ready For The Flood, and Music from The North Country, an anthology of Jayhawks music has led to speculation of a full band reunion.
You'll find Jayhawks fans blogging about the group at sites like the Jayhawks Fan Page.
by Glen Boyd
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