The Jayhawks Reunite

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Apr 3, 2009

Alt-country trailblazers the Jayhawks are reuniting their classic mid-'90s line-up for a pair of summer reunion shows, with more expected to come next year.

The concerts will mark the first time Jayhawks principals Gary Louris and Mark Olson have shared the same U.S. stage with band members Karen Grotberg and Marc Perlman in over a decade, and since the group's classic 1995 album, Tomorrow the Green Grass, Olson's final record with the group. As previously reported, the shows also follow Louris and Olson's recently released collaborative effort Ready for the Flood, which finally found the pair burying the hatchet and working together again after a years-long separation.

So far, the reunion shows only include a headlining spot at the Basilica Block Party in their hometown of Minneapolis on July 10 and another at Spain's Primavera Sound '09 Festival in Barcelona on May 30. However, according to Billboard, several more are planned for 2010.

"I have some friends in Spain who were very persistent about getting a Jayhawks show there and they really wanted the Green Grass line-up," Louris told Billboard. "Since Mark and I are now buddies again, and the fact that Karen is now willing to do some shows because now her daughter is old enough for her to leave for periods of time, it's just become more viable."

Louris and Olson also have several U.S. acoustic shows lined up as a duo in support of Ready for the Flood. But while those will focus on the pair's new material, the performances promise to bring back the past and rely heavily on classic material from both Green Grass and its predecessor, 1992's Hollywood Town Hall.

"Our approach right now is to look forward. Olson and I have a record out, we're going to record another, maybe make solo records and do the Jayhawks occasionally," Louris explains. "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. I don't know how much Karen can tour, or how much any of us want to do a full band tour. As far as recording together, we don't have any plans to do that. But if we continue to do it and we're just loving it, then of course you need new songs."

Mark Olson & Gary Louris tour dates:

4/6 Seattle, WA - Triple Door
4/7 Portland, OR - Aladdin
4/9 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
4/10 Santa Cruz - The Crepe Place
4/11 Los Angeles, CA - Largo At The Coronet
4/12 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up
4/13 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
4/15 Santa Fe, NM - Santa Fe Brewing Company
4/17 Dallas, TX - Sons Of Hermann Hall
4/18 Austin, TX - Antone's

The Jayhawks tour dates:

5/30 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound '09 Festival
7/10 Minneapolis, MN - Basilica Block Party

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