with Abigail Washburn with Kai Welch opening
The seminal alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, known for a unique country rock sound, will perform in the McDonald Theatre on Wednesday, February 8, 2012.
All ages advance tickets are general admission and available now for $20 at all Safeway TicketsWest outlets, online at TicketsWest, and will call online at mcdonaldtheatre.com. Tickets day of show will cost $25. Doors will open at 7 p.m. The concert will begin at 8 p.m.
Click here for ticketing information
The Jayhawks were definitely swimming against the tide when they emerged from a crowded Minneapolis music scene halfway through the 1980s -- a memorable decade that saw the likes of the Replacements, Soul Asylum, Husker Du and Prince put Minnesota on the musical map in a big way.
Forging a rootsy sound that wasn't quite rock or country -- "Hank Williams on speed" somebody once memorably called it -- The Jayhawks quickly turned into one of the most important bands of the post-punk era.
Over the course of two decades, several albums, countless memorable live shows and enough personal drama to fill a couple of Behind the Music episodes, this beloved band soared to heights few ever achieve while wining the hearts and minds of numerous critics, fans and peers in the process.
Named after "The Hawks" -- as in "Levon and the Hawks," the name of Dylan's backing band in the 60s before they became known as "The Band" -- The Jayhawks and their fellow travelers even helped make the world safe again for artists who weren't afraid to fuse traditional rock, country and folk influences into something that was both timeless and modern, just like the best American bands always have.
Formed by Mark Olson, Gary Louris, Marc Perlman and Norm Rogers in early 1985, The Jayhawks original members all came from a variety of Minneapolis bands toiling away in the hyperactive local club scene at the time.
Prolific and highly motivated, the band amassed a staggering number of original songs in a very short time, culminating with a self-released eponymous debut album in 1986.
Even though the door to the future was never officially closed, long time fans were still surprised -- and overjoyed -- with the news in 2008 that the Tomorrow the Green Grass-era lineup of the band with Mark Olson would be reuniting for some summer festival shows in Europe.
The good news kept on coming in 2009 with more reunion shows and the release of the band's first retrospective, The Jayhawks Anthology, a multi-disc collection personally supervised by Louris that featured key tracks from all phases of the bands career, a disc of rarities and a DVD.
2010 saw the long awaited re-release of the bands long out-of-print, highly collectable first album, as well as the launch of a massive reissue project of all the band's major label albums. During June 2010, the "classic" lineup of the band performed a three night stand at Minneapolis' legendary First Ave. club, the scene of so many great Jayhawks memories over the last quarter century.
Anyone who was lucky enough to have witnessed any of those recent shows knows all too well that the spirit of this essential American band is alive and well. |
