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Friday, April 04, 2003

By Scott Mervis, Post-Gazette Weekend Editor

So, just how is the weather on the new Jayhawks record? SIt's called "Rainy Day Music," but sonically at least, it could be one of the sunniest releases that will come out all year. Nonetheless, singer-songwriter Gary Louris says bring an umbrella.

	The Jayhawks WITH: Tim Easton. WHERE: Rosebud, Strip. WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday. TICKETS: $16 advance; $18 at door; 412-323-1919.

"I think you have to listen pretty closely to the lyrics to find that it's not as sunny as it sounds. Just like [the last record] 'Smile' appeared sunnier than it was. The song sounds nice, let's face it. It's pretty music; it's not ugly, dark music. We're attracted to beauty, but beauty can be deceiving. You have to be careful of the surface, because there are some multiple layers there."

The top layer is clearly the Jayhawks getting back to the shimmering folk-rock sound that first drew people to the Minneapolis band with the release of the seminal "Hollywood Town Hall" in 1991 and its 1994 follow-up "Tomorrow the Green Grass." Back then, Louris was sharing the vocal chores with Mark Olson, who abruptly left at the band's peak. The sweeter-voiced Louris then surprised the alt-country crowd with a pair of releases that reinvented the Jayhawks as more of a psychedelic pop band.

With "Rainy Day Music," Louris and the Jayhawks relax into spare acoustics more than they ever have, recalling at times the harmonies of Crosby, Stills & Nash (not too surprising, considering the presence of offspring Chris Stills).

"It just happened to be the time for us to circle back and look at other things we'd done in the past and approach it with what we learned along the way," Louris says. "We haven't made a rootsy record in a while and that makes it new and exciting to us again. By '96, '97, we were over it, we were really tired of what we were doing."

That type of fatigue has been common among the top alt-country bands. Wilco, of course, has all but abandoned roots music for more noisy pop textures. And on a recent stop here, Whiskeytown's Ryan Adams seemed to have more in common with the garage bands.

Louris acknowledges that the roots approach can be difficult to sustain.

"I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing at their job over and over, unless you're incredibly one-dimensional. It's unfair to expect anyone to make the same record or do the same job day after day, unless you're working at a factory. It's supposed to be art, it's supposed to be creative, so explore. At the end of the day you still are who you are, you can try to reinvent yourself, but a certain blueprint has been laid down and it's why we probably still sound like the Jayhawks whether we're playing it straight or getting crazy."

While they were making "Rainy Day Music," which hits the streets on Tuesday, Louris revealed that with this record there was no pretense of trying to get on the cover of Spin.

"I lied. I'd really like to be on the cover on Spin -- butt naked," he says, laughing. "I think we approach all our records with the attitude that it's our last. We've proven ourselves, and therefore we can [focus on] the important things, which is making great music, not trying to fit in or fit a format, not trying to write a single. You're just doing. I think that's a luxury. If they said you can't make any more records, we would feel like we had our moment in the sun. We approach each one like the last one, and I think that's a very freeing approach."

Louris -- who's never owned an Eagles record (preferring the Flying Burrito Brothers and Buffalo Springfield) -- felt free enough to create a record that's out of step with modern pop and more in tune with the breezy sound of '70s L.A. folk-rock.

"We've been interested in trying to explore the harmonies beyond what we've done the last couple records. If you can sing, sing. I think that's one of our strong points. We're not really a jump-around, headbanging kind of band. We're about beauty and singing. Very square things, but I think trying to be cool is pretty square in itself."

Louris was forced to postpone a show at Rosebud in January due to a bout with pericarditis (the same infection of the heart lining that Dylan had). Now, he returns with the plan of showcasing "Rainy Day Music" and other Jayhawks songs in a three-piece unplugged setting.

"It's really fun and a way for people to really hear the singing in a way they won't hear with the electric," he says. "But I miss my electric guitar and I don't want people to think that everyone's been fired or abandoned ship and we're tightening our belts. This is one way to see us and you probably won't see us this way for a long time."