The Jayhawks and James McMurtry

Just after the Jayhawks released their highest-charting single, “Blue” in the mid-90s, guitarist Mark Olsen—who shared vocals and harmonies with guitarist Gary Louris—abruptly left the band. Fronted only by Louris, the Jayhawks made a decent go of it over the next ten years. Always a solid live band, the Olsen-less Jayhawks guaranteed a concertgoer a competent, steady show.

Three years ago, though, Olsen and Louris apparently mended fences, and the newly reformed group have been touring fairly steadily. Most initially gratifying is that Olsen's deeper, more earthy vocals provide a nice counterpoint to Louris's high lonesome tenor. Better yet, seeing the group play live, it's clear that Olsen gives the group something of an edge and even a more mischievous sense of humor than it had in his absence.

In concert, The Jayhawks are one of the best live country-influence rock bands of all time. One of the original bands in the 1990s alt-country movement, the band under Louris seemed to steer towards a more mainstream rock sound. With Olsen's returned, their live show now completely restores the twang. In fact, the group is likely to produce mandolins, fiddles, and slide guitar—all expertly played—in their shows.

Set lists tend to highlight new material that Louris and Olsen are working on, but as might be expected they also draw heavily from their critically acclaimed records Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow The Green Grass as well.

It’s evident from the way that he masters the guitar that James McMurty has been playing since he was a child. The Texan singer/songwriter gave a solid and exciting performance of his rock and roll and folk music along with his talented band members. As soon as he took to the stage, after a very brief hello, he launched into Freeway View accompanied by this full band, and with the addition of backing vocals, filling out the sound. Although there weren’t many people at the show, the atmosphere was great, McMurtry took tome to engage with us in the crowd, and give us little explanations of the origins of his songs and reveal the motivations of their narratives. It was really special to hear such in depth analysis from the artist himself, and in my opinion one of the best songwriters living at the moment.
He played through Just Us Kids chronologically, and it was awesome to hear it live, as I’ve listened to the recording over and over again. Towards the end of the set, he revealed that he has an album in the pipeline called Complicated Game, and played us a track from their as a preview. It was incredibly exciting to hear the music before it’s released. The show was everything I was hoping for and more, I’d definitely see him live if you get the chance.