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News 1999 - 2001

12/27/01 A few news tidbits in The Star Tribune regarding the Jayhawks' lineup changes and new album.

12/22/01 Looks like the Jayhawks will probably be going into the studio to work on the new album the beginning of February. Rick Rubin and Jim Scott (who has worked on previous Jayhawks albums as an engineer) will be producing.

12/17/01 The rumors are true, for the time being the Jayhawks will be performing as a 3 piece (Gary Louris, Marc Perlman, andTim O'Reagan). Stephen McCarthy will be joining them when his schedule permits. Jen is no longer in the band and at present no word on whether they will add a new keyboardist. The recent collaboration between ex-Jayhawk Mark Olson and Gary Louris produced two songs: "Say You'll Be Mine" and "We Are Not Afraid". These were intended for a Disney flick but won't be used so they may end up on other projects.

12/09/01 Gary Louris took the stage for ex-Whiskeytown main man/solo artist Ryan Adams' encore of the Elton John chestnut "Rocket Man" at First Avenue recently. Adams mentioned from the stage that he and the Jayhawks will be label mates as they have been signed to Lost Highway Records (along with Johnny Cash). Adams noted that "now Gary Louris HAS to be my friend".

11/30/01 From Mpls-St.Paul Magazine's Dec. 2001 issue comes their annual "The 100 Best Things about the Twin Cities"...
#86 The Jayhawks
They wax poetic about the mixed blessings of long-term relationships
and April in Minnesota. They've achieved some national recognition (though
not enough), yet they keep their hearts and homes in the Twin Cities. The
Jayhawks are our homegrown literate rock 'n' rollers.

11/13/01 Sounds like the Jayhawks tour of Spain was a success, there have been lots of enthusiastic concert reports from the Spanish fans! For an insider's take on a couple of the shows check out Madrid and Bilbao opener Steve Wynn's tour diary for 11/08 and 11/09. Wynn and present Jayhawks guitarist/pedal steel player Stephen McCarthy have worked together in the band Gutterball. Billboard.com recently reported that Jayhawks keyboardist Jen Gunderman has contributed her talents to Caitlin Cary's first full length solo album due out February 26, 2001 on the Yep Roc label. Caitlin is a former member of Whiskeytown.

10/24/01 The Jayhawks arrived in Spain yesterday and have been busy doing interviews for the local media. Some interesting tidbits have come from these interviews. The Jayhawks will start recording their next album in January with Rick Rubin producing. Gary has been busy writing songs for various soundtracks (rumours have been floating around lately that he has also been working on soundtrack songs with former Jayhawk Mark Olson). "What Led Me To This Town" will also be heard in a new Sandra Bullock movie. Gary, Marc and Tim have written and recorded a new song "Fools On Parade" for their Spanish fans...some of whom are mentioned in the song! This track will be included on a cd sampler in the November issue of Rock Sound (Spanish edition).

09/04/01 The latest issue of No Depression mentions the Jayhawks' departure from Columbia/Sony. American Recordings producer and label executive Rick Rubin has moved all American artists to Island Def Jam Music Group.

08/26/01 It seems that author Stephen King is a Jayhawks fan...check out the website for his latest book
.
07/17/01 Some interesting news about a change in Jayhawks' management and Gary's appearance on the Drew Carey Show from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

07/15/01 Gary Louris joined Lucinda Williams on stage at the Indy Jazz Fest yesterday to provide backing vocals on a live rendition of her current single "Essence" (he also did the backing vocals on the recorded version). Gary also guested with the Wallflowers recently at Minneapolis' Basilica Block Party and joined them for a cover of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down". And on June 28th in LA, Columbia artists Evan and Jaron enlisted Gary's help with their recording of "Blue".

07/02/01 Jayhawks guitarist Kraig Johnson will be touring with his band Iffy this summer so will be unable to play some of the Jayhawks' scheduled tour dates. At present Gary Louris is in contact with Stephen McCarthy, a talented guitarist/multi-instrumentalist to fill in on guitar. McCarthy was formally a member of the Gram Parsons influenced roots rock band, The Long Ryders.
Gary Louris backed Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) on guitar and vocals for Hunter's appearance on Craig Kilborn's show on June 27th . They performed "Wash It Away" (from Hunter's new album Rant) and the Mott The Hoople classic "All The Young Dudes".

05/15/01 The Minnesota Music Awards were held last night at First Avenue and the Jayhawks won 3 awards: Album of the Year (Major Label) for Smile, Best Pop Recording for Smile and Song of the Year for "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me."

05/12/01 Gary Louris made a guest appearance at the Mason Jennings show last night at Minneapolis' First Avenue. Gary played electric guitar on "Butterfly" and guitar and vocals on "Darkness Between The Fireflies."

04/26/01 The Hennepin History Museum (Minneapolis) is opening a new exhibit April 28th titled "Unsatisfied: Minneapolis Rock in the 1980's." It will feature photos and items depecting the Minnesota music scene of the 1980's including items from the Jayhawks and Safety Last. For more info click here.

04/24/01 Jayhawks bassist Marc Perlman was recently interviewed by techtv.com about the impact that technology is having on the sound of rock 'n' roll.

03/30/01 Gary Louris participated in The Third Waltz, a concert benefiting Neon Street (aid to homeless Chicago teens) on March 22nd. He performed "Radio King" and "Glad & Sorry" with fellow Golden Smogger Jeff Tweedy backed by the Nicholas Tremulas Band. Also performing at Chicago's Metro was Alejandro Escovedo, Marianne Faithfull, Billy Corgan, Jon Langford and Bun E. Carlos.

03/02/01 Cincinnati Modern Rock station 97X is conducting an online auction for charity featuring 2 Jayhawks items: a signed Smile poster and CD. Bidding ends March 16th.

02/12/01 The Jayhawks are presently on tour in Spain (February 8-17). For a review of their show in Granada (in Spanish) and photos check out this link.

01/22/01 The Jayhawks have just finished up a short tour of the westcoast along with a few dates in TX...check out a rockin' review of the final show at the LA House Of Blues. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle after the dates scheduled in Spain the Jayhawks will be working on their next album for Columbia.

01/04/01 Smile has been popping up on several year end "Best Of" lists including CD Now's Ten Essential Rock Albums of 2000 (#4) and Wall of Sound's Top 25 of 2000 (#6). My local Chicago NW suburban paper had Smile at #3. On a different note, be sure and check out the hilarious Jayhawks European Tour diary written by a friend of the band, Tommy Stevens.

12/14/00 Jayhawk keyboardist Jen Gunderman will perform along with other artists at Warren Haynes' (Gov't Mule) 12th annual Christmas Jam, December 21st. The event will be held at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Ashville, NC.

10/30/00 The Jayhawks were joined onstage last night at Chicago's Metro by fellow Golden Smogger Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) for rockin' sing-a-long versions of some Smog favorites. Jeff contributed guitar on "Revolution Blues" and "If I Only Had A Car" and vocals and tambourine on "Until You Came Along."
10/10/00 Cities 97 (Minneapolis) will be releasing a limited edition benefit CD, Cities 97 Sampler Volume 12. It will contain a live version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me." Look for it in area Target stores on November 7.

09/24/00 Two special appearances by the Jayhawks this week- first they performed live on Radio Woodstock's Utopia Soundstage for a webcast at 12:30 am EST today. Then on the 29th they will be performing at the 5 year anniversary festivities "Rock Around The Clock" at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH.

09/12/00 The Jayhawks performed at a concert for Jimmy Carter's Habitat For Humanity at the Lincoln Center in New York City on September 10 and the following day helped to build a house in Harlem. More info. They will be starting a month long tour opening for Matchbox Twenty on September 12...and as a side note they absolutely blew the roof off their hometown's First Avenue club on the 8th and 9th!!!

08/11/00 * Cancelled The Jayhawks' August 15th (Tuesday) show in Toronto will be webcast www.virturecast, go to "Music" and click on "Coming Up". There will be a direct link put up August 14. The webcast will start at aprox. 11 pm EST.

07/19/00 A CD single of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" will be released on July 31st in the UK. No word on additional tracks.

06/05/00 The Jayhawks are in the midst of a month long tour of the States and will be making a two week stop in Europe in July. They have been doing some instore performances after which they have been signing autographs and chatting with fans. Gary Louris and Jen Gunderman taped an interview with a Twin Cities cable access show, Super Tasty.

05/18/00 Smile debuted at #129 on the Billboard Top 200 Album charts this week and sold more than 11,000 units. The first single "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is #9 on the Billboard Monitor Adult Alternative chart and #5 on the Radio and Records Adult Alternative chart.

05/09/00 Smile is out!!! RUN to your favorite record store and pick up at least one copy for yourself and a few for friends and family. I've got 2 copies so far, one for the car and one for the house, very handy : )

05/08/00 Starting May 9th a limited edition Jayhawks CD "Columbia Radio Hour" sampler will be given away at all IRD listed record stores. It will feature live and previously unreleased tracks from Smile according to the Jayhawks' official website.

05/1/00 The May-June issue of No Depression features our favorite coverboy Gary Louris and an interview with the Jayhawks inside.

04/26/00 Word is that the Jayhawks will be visiting the Cities 97 studios in Minneapolis at 4 or 5 (CST) TODAY. They broadcast live at www.cities97.com

04/14/00 The Jayhawks will be doing an instore performance and signing at the Greenwich Village Tower Records Store on May 9th at 7pm. The address is: 692 Broadway, NYC, 212-505-1500.
The cover of Smile which is now available to pre-order from cdnow.com and amazon.com.

04/11/00 Photos of the Jayhawks' appearance on Vin Scela's Idiot's Delight radio program are up on his Wall of Fame.

04/01/00 The first single off Smile, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is receiving radio airplay in NYC, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, Baltimore, DC area, Denver, Nashville and LA. The release date for Smile is May 9th for the US and Canada, May 8th for Europe.

03/29/00 The official Jayhawks website, thejayhawks.com is up. Nice Bio and information on the recording of Smile.

03/24/00 At present the Jayhawks are making radio station appearances and playing industry showcases to support Smile.

03/20/00 The Jayhawks will make an appearance on Chicago's WXRT radio 93.1 around 2pm on Tom Marker's show on March 21. Click here to read a transcript of this interview. They will also be in Los Angeles on April 5th to make an appearance on a radio station there, KACD/KBCD 103.1.

03/09/00 The Jayhawks are scheduled to be guests on Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight radio program (8pm-2am)on March 26th. This program is on the New York station 102.7 WNEW. Check out the website, Vin also posts photos of past guests, Golden Smog were guests on his show in 1998.

03/07/00 The Jayhawks will be featured on a live webcast from SXSW on March 16th.

02/17/00 The new Jayhawks album titled Smile will be released May 9, 2000 on American/Columbia. The Jayhawks will be playing at the Columbia Records Showcase at SXSW in Austin, TX on March 16th.

01/08/00 From the Daily Dish: "The Jayhawks have announced the latest addition to their ranks: keyboardist/vocalist Jen Gunderman...Jen was previously a member of Columbia Record's group Dag; she appeared on their second album and subsequently toured with the group." Dag is described in the AMG Guide as a funk bar band from Raleigh, NC and Jen played on their 1998 album Apartment #635. The Jayhawks new album release date has been pushed back to May 9th.

12/21/99 The Dec.17th issue of the Minneapolis Star Tribune contained an interview with Gary Louris. Gary talks about working with producer Bob Ezrin and how that has influenced the sound of the new album: "Bob made us tighten everything up. He pushed us to write a few more songs, including one where he suggested we make a weird, techno-folk song. It turned out to be one of the best songs on the album."

12/11/99 In an interview in the Duluth News-Tribune, Gary Louris talked to reporter Chris Casey about the new album. Still untitled, the album should be out sometime in April and according to Gary it is "a little bit more like the old Jayhawks than the last record, and in other parts it's more dance-able almost." He also adds, "It's an odd record because I don't know many records that have loops and drum machines and also have accordion and pedal steel (guitar), It's fairly adventurous." Gary also talked about working with producer Bob Ezrin, Kiss' Paul Stanley dropping in on a mixing session and their new keyboardist, Jen Gunderman.

11/26/99 Allstar reports that the Jayhawks have finished mixing their new album at LA's Village Recorders. The album will probably be released March or April of next year.

11/10/99 According to both the Daily Dish and Launch, one of the songs to be included on the Jayhawks' new album is titled "Henry Wilson" and it was written in honor of Gary Louris' son, Henry Wilson Louris who was born this past April.

11/05/99 Some more news from the Daily Dish: the Jayhawks will start mixing their latest album in Los Angeles this month. They list Bob Ezrin (Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Pink Floyd) as having produced the album and he and Jay Healy will mix the album.

11/03/99 Under the title "Happy Jawhawks"[sic] the Daily Dish (Columbia Records online news) reported that last weekend Gary Louris was married at home in Minneapolis and the Jayhawks finished overdubs on their yet untitled album. The album was recorded at producer Ed Ackerson's Flowers Studio in Minneapolis.

11/01/99 At the Gabe's By The Park show on 10/30/99 in St. Paul, Gary Louris mentioned that the album will come out early in 2000. Karen Grotberg will only be doing local Minnesota area shows and will not be touring with them when they tour more extensively in 2000 in support of their new album.

10/16/99 There have been a couple of recent articles detailing the progress of the Jayhawks' new album. One in the Minneapolis Star Tribune is an interview with Gary Louris and the other in Allstar spoke to Marc Perlman. The album is being produced by Ed Ackerson (of Minneapolis bands Polara and previously 27 Various) and Bob Ezrin. Gary describes the album as "...more out there than the last record, but then again it's more like an older Jayhawks record...". Marc describes it as a "rock-dance" album(?!). The release date is still listed as early 2000 on Columbia.

This past summer both Rolling Stone and Spin put out issues devoted to their picks for the essential albums of the decade. I don't like to waste too many of my brain cells on these two magazines but they did cite Hollywood Town Hall as one of their choices. The May 13th issue of Rolling Stone listed 150 of the greatest albums broken down into categories such as Rock & Roll, Alternative, Hip Hop, etc. Hollywood Town Hall was listed among the 34 Rock & Roll albums. There were some truly boneheaded choices in this category (can you think of 2 Rolling Stones albums in the '90s that were essential?). Whatever. Spin didn't name HTH one of it's choices per se but it's #63 pick was Uncle Tupelo's No Depression and they put a "See Also: The poignant Americana of the Jayhawks' Hollywood Town Hall" at the end of their paragraph on No Depression so I'll count it.

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