The Jayhawks
Tomorrow The Green Grass (American)
by Marc Hirsh
The Jayhawks
Tomorrow The Green Grass (American)
by Marc Hirsh
originally published in the Rice Thresher, March 3, 1995
"Country Rock" is a dangerous term that doesn't seem to accurately fit those that seem to get pegged with it. Garth Brooks is a country singer who loves rock music. The Eagles play rock and they play country, but they never really seem to actually synthesize the two.
The missing ingredient is usually balance. It's no good for bands to just show that they're adept at both styles. They have to be able to be both at once.
That's why the Jayhawks are the undisputed kings of the genre. Rather than jumping continually over the border between rock and country or staying in one while gazing wistfully at the other, the Jayhawks stand with one foot planted firmly in each side.
The latest album by the Minneapolis-based group, Tomorrow The Green Grass, finds them no longer staking out their territory but proudly sticking a flag in it and declaring themselves royalty. The recently disbanded Uncle Tupelo were the only ones giving the Jayhawks a serious run for their money, and with them gone, there's nobody even close.
Part of why they stand so tall is that the Jayhawks make it sound so damn easy. They don't take certain aspects of country music and certain aspects of rock music and mix them together. Instead, they take all aspects of country and all aspects of rock and show that they all fit. Listeners of country music will think this is country and those who listen to rock will think this is speaking to them.
At the center of the group is the singing/songwriting/guitar playing duo of Mark Olsen and Gary Louris. Neither attempt to command individual attention. Few songs have a "lead" singer, relying instead on the fractured but somehow perfect vocal harmonies that have become one of the band's signatures.
Olsen and Louris' guitars echo their voices, with each flowing into the other, demonstrating their obvious trust of one another. Each expects the other to fill in the gaps that he's left. They meld so perfectly that it becomes impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.
The seemingly psychic connection between Olsen and Louris is further exploited in the uniformly excellent songs they cowrote for Tomorrow. The gorgeous opener, "Blue," coasts on the voices of the two singers before the strings in the chorus take it up to new heights.
Elsewhere, the band seems to pay tribute to the forefathers of Country Rock. "Real Light" and "Ten Little Kids" nod to Neil Young, with the band sounding like early Crazy Horse. The Byrds, perhaps the granddaddies of the style, receive something of a tribute in "Pray For Me."
Following the school of thought which states that the sign of a great rhythm section is complete anonymity and inconspicuousness, bassist Marc Perlman, pianist Karen Grotberg and drummer Don Heffington comprise one of the finest rhythm sections in contemporary music. Their work is very subtle and therefore extremely difficult: to serve the song without drawing attention. They pull this off with phenomenal aplomb.
Tomorrow The Green Grass is successful in just about every endeavor. The songs, the singing and the playing reach unbelievable levels of resonance, intelligence and, most importantly, soul. Tomorrow isn't an album you merely listen to; it's an album you feel.