Paging Mr. Louris

Music | July 6th, 2016

Since The Jayhawks hit the Minneapolis music scene in the mid-eighties, their signature alt country sound has influenced such bands as The Gear Daddies, Uncle Tupelo and countless others in the Americana genre.

“The scene was exploding because The Replacements, Husker Du and the whole indie sound was happening when it was really indie--all kinds of bands and everybody knew each other. There was also this layer of Prince at the time and all of that,” says Gary Louris, frontman of The Jayhawks. “It was featured in Newsweek -- the Minneapolis scene in ‘86 or so.. It was the center of the musical world when we really started playing.”

We caught up with Louris while he and his band mates were en route from Des Moines to Minneapolis and were about to embark on the western leg of their tour to promote their new album “Paging Mr. Proust.”

When asked how their shows go over on their home turf, he modestly replied, “We seem to be well liked in our hometown--so they usually go great.”

In the years that they have been touring Louris makes mention that though they have toured the world and though their roots are in the Midwest, they haven’t spent too much time touring within it.

Louris went on to explain,”We’ve always neglected our own backyard, whether it’s the Upper Midwest or Minnesota/Wisconsin. We don’t play there enough--so we don’t have a lot of history. When we go on tour we tend to hop straight to Chicago and then out to the East Coast. We’ve never quite been a regional band.”

The Jayhawks aside, Louris has a handful of exciting upcoming side projects. One includes his new band Au Pair with friend and singer-songwriter Django Haskins, a solo album (when he has the time), and a collaboration with Allan Sparworth from the Duluth-based band Low.

The collaboration with Sparworth will be an experimental art piece that is to be performed live next year at the the annual dusk to dawn multidisciplinary Twin Cities art festival Northern Spark. It will feature the two guitarists playing off of each other and will be a celebration of the Mississippi River.

Musically Louris cut his teeth on the sounds of Led Zeppelin, The Who, and The Beatles--whose influence and harmonies resonate within The Jayhawks’ original material. He cites the Elvis Sun sessions as an eye-opener when it came to the soulfulness of blues, country, and rockabilly.

“I grew up listening to British rock and pop, then I got into art rock and prog rock. All of those things stay with you--especially the things you grow up with as a kid,” Louris said, “Punk rock and all of those sort of things have all seeped into my veins.”

Even on the second leg of their tour, The Jayhawks won’t take any of their live performances lightly. “You know why, you can go, okay, well, I’m not feeling it--or I don’t know why we’re playing this particular venue,” Louris says, “and then you find out someone has driven 300 miles to see you--or flown from Ireland to see you, which has happened. You need to perform as if it’s your last night every night.”

“It’s very flattering--our fans.” He says. “If they love us they really love us.”

IF YOU GO:

An evening with The Jayhawks

Tuesday, July 12, 7:30 p.m. 21+

Sanctuary Events Center, 670 4th Ave. N, Fargo