THE JAYHAWKS' OLSON AND LOURIS REUNITE

From Americana UK News comes some promising news on the Jayhawks. Billboard reports that Gary Louris and Mark Olson might just reunite the Jayhawks.

"Rock'n'roll reunion tours come in many shapes, whether it's the classic rock band cashing in on decades-old nostalgia, or indie-rock darlings tromping though the clubs trying to recover a spark of their old glory. But expect something different when estranged Jayhawks principals Gary Louris and Mark Olson start their first tour together Friday (Feb. 18) in Ames, Iowa. "I don't see ourselves as one of the people who 'get the band back together and make some money,'" Louris said. "Mark and I just want to sing together again. There's something about the way we sing that is bigger than the sum of its parts." As the main songwriters for the Minneapolis-based band, Olson and Louris took the country/rock fusion of the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers and turbo-charged it with a driving rhythm section and beautiful soaring harmonies. But just as the Jayhawks looked like they were ready to break into the mainstream, Olson, fed up with the music business and touring, quit the band in 1995 after 10 years.

"I didn't realize how much I was going to miss him until the last few years, especially onstage," Louris said. "But in the last six or eight months we started talking on a regular basis. We have a bond beyond music."

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