THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Over the last three decades, singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Gary Louris has built a deeply compelling body of music whose artistry and integrity has won the loyalty of an international audience and the respect of both critics and his peers. Best known for his seminal work with The Jayhawks, he is one of the most acclaimed musicians to come out of Minnesota’s vibrant rock scene.
But after meeting his wife and moving with her to a small town outside of Montreal, Louris found the inspiration for his third solo album Dark Country. “It is a love letter to my wife Steph, plain and simple. It was written and recorded in my little studio in our home in the mountains of Quebec,” says Louris.
The result is an album that is front-to-back the most romantic of Louris’ career. He elaborates, “It is the most intimate and straightforward record I have ever made. Period. Just me in a room with my songs and you the listener. I am not typically an autobiographical lyricist but these songs are as literal as can be… all directed to my love.”
Built around his own guitar or piano, Louris called upon a few friends to assist. Occasional Jayhawk Stephen McCarthy (The Long Ryders) fleshes out Blow ‘Em Away with some elegant pedal steel and Better To Walk Than to Run with some guitars and steel. Eleanor Whitmore of The Mastersons arranged and played a beautiful string section on By Your Side. Following suit with the last few Jayhawks an Louris albums, Paul Kolderie (Hole, Pixies, Uncle Tupelo) mixed the record.
Concurrent with his time in The Jayhawks, Louris has been a charter member of the part-time alt-rock supergroup Golden Smog, which at various times has included members of Soul Asylum, Wilco, The Replacements and Big Star. Along the way he has produced records by various artists, contributed songs to Grammy-winning albums by the Tedeschi-Trucks Band and The Chicks; and recorded with acts as diverse as The Black Crowes, Counting Crows, Uncle Tupelo, Joe Henry, John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams, Roger McGuinn, Maria McKee, Nickel Creek, Carrie Rodriguez, Tift Merritt and The Wallflowers.
Louris’s first solo record Vagabonds — recorded with producer Chris Robinson — was released in 2008. That was followed by Jump For Joy in 2021, as well as a one-off side project Au Pair (with The Old Ceremony frontman Django Haskins).”
