Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Back Roads and Abandoned Motels new studio album from The Jayhawks, on Friday, July 13.
Available in Digital, CD, and 12″ vinyl formats, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels is The Jayhawks’ tenth studio album and first for Legacy Recordings (who issued the group’s first compilation, Music From The North Country – The Jayhawks Anthology, in 2009 followed by releases of expanded Legacy Editions of the group’s fabled American breakout titles–Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass–in 2011).
Following the release of the album, The Jayhawks will perform select concert dates throughout 2018 beginning with a performance at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival on June 16 (see concert schedule below).
Produced by Gary Louris, John Jackson and Ed Ackerson at Flowers Studio, Minneapolis, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels sets nine songs co-written by Louris with other artists alongside two of Gary’s latest compositions.
Recorded in two soulful sessions in 2017, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels finds the current incarnation of The Jayhawks–Louris (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), Marc Perlman (bass), Tim O’Reagan (vocals, drums, percussion), Karen Grotberg (vocals, piano, keyboards), John Jackson (mandolin, violin, acoustic guitar)–expanding the group’s repertoire with 11 new performances of Gary’s songs. Karen and Tim each sing lead on two songs on the album. Tim performs “Gonna Be a Darkness” and “Long Time Ago” while Karen takes lead vocals (for the first time on a Jayhawks album) on the opener, “Come Cryin’ to Me (featuring a soulful horn section arranged by David Ralicke) and on “El Dorado.”
Destined to become a classic in The Jayhawks’ catalog, the Back Roads and Abandoned Motels setlist of songs co-written by Louris includes “Come Cryin’ to Me” (originally released on Natalie Maines’ Mother in 2013); “Everybody Knows” and “Bitter End” (released on Dixie Chicks’ Taking The Long Way in 2006); “Gonna Be a Darkness” (written and performed by Louris and Jakob Dylan for True Blood: Music From The HBO Original Series – Volume 3 in 2011); “Need You Tonight” (originally released on Scott Thomas’ Matson Tweed in 2015); “El Dorado” (originally released on Carrie Rodriguez’ She Ain’t Me in 2008); “Bird Never Flies” (originally released on Ari Hest’s The Break-In in 2007); “Backwards Women” (written with Wild Feathers but never recorded) and “Long Time Ago” (written with Emerson Hart of Tonic but never recorded).
THE JAYHAWKS
BACK ROADS AND ABANDONED MOTELS
1. Come Cryin’ To Me (Gary Louris, Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, Emily Robison)
2. Everybody Knows (Gary Louris, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, Martie Maguire)
3. Gonna Be A Darkness (Jakob Dylan, Gary Louris)
4. Bitter End (Emily Robison, Natalie Maines, Gary Louris, Martie Maguire)
5. Backwards Women (Gary Louris, Joel King, Taylor Burns, Ricky Young)
6. Long Time Ago (Emerson Hart, Gary Louris)
7. Need You Tonight (Scott Thomas, Gary Louris, Kristen Hall)
8. El Dorado (Carrie Rodriguez, Gary Louris, Malcolm Burn, Sandra Jennifer (Sandrine) Daniels)
9. Bird Never Flies (Ari Hest, Gary Louris)
10. Carry You To Safety (Gary Louris)
11. Leaving Detroit (Gary Louris)
The Jayhawks 2018 Concert Dates
June 16 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival – Brooklyn, New York
June 23 Shake the Lake Festival – Madison, Wisconsin
