After regrouping for a tour last year, Mark Olson and Gary Louris have once again reunited for brief Western U.S. swing this spring. The former principals of the now-defunct Jayhawks have 10 dates slated, beginning April 28 in Tuscon, Ariz.
“There’s obviously an audience for it and we like to do it. Sure, it’s a bit of a money-maker, it’s a job, but it’s going to be fun,” Louris tells Billboard.com. “One of the really appealing parts is to hang out with Mark and be friends again.”
While there are no official plans for the two to record again, Louris does not rule out the possibility. “I wouldn’t want it to be the record that I have to market for the next two years, but I would enjoy making a record with Mark,” the 51-year-old songwriter says. “We’d just have to find the time. But we wouldn’t do a record that requires two months in the studio. Mark likes to write and make stuff in a grassroots situation. We don’t get too fancy.”
Louris notes that the tour is not a Jayhawks reunion. Olson left the seminal alt-country band in 1995 to pursue other interests while Louris remained, eventually disbanding the group in 2003.
Louris will be supporting the new Golden Smog album, “Another Fine Day,” due July 18 via Lost Highway. The project features the talents of other artists like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Big Star’s Jody Stephens and is the first under the Golden Smog name in eight years.
Louris, who splits his time between homes in Spain and Minneapolis, is busy performing with two other side projects, the Yams and Thank You And Goodnight. He hopes to release another record, either solo or with a band, later this year.
Here are Mark Olson and Gary Louris’ tour dates:
April 28: Tuscon, Ariz. (Rialto Theater)
April 29: Flagstaff, Ariz. (Orpheum Theater)
May 1-2: Los Angeles (Troubadour)
May 3: Solana Beach, Calif. (Belly Up)
May 6: Santa Cruz, Calif. (Rio Theater)
May 7-8: San Francisco (Great American Music Hall)
May 11: Portland, Ore. (Aladdin)
May 12: Seattle (Showbox)
Source billboard.com.
