Gary Louris

Long before rising to prominence as leader of the insurgent country group The Jayhawks (and the all-star collective Golden Smog), Gary Louris grew up in Toledo, OH, where he took piano lessons as a youngster. When he was 14, his mother gave him a classical guitar, suggesting he could bring the instrument to parties and become more popular. He started writing songs in college, but it wasn't until he had graduated that he purchased his first electric guitar. In the early '80s, Louris joined the group Safety Last.



Vocalist/guitarist Mark Olsen, who had been in a rockabilly band called Stagger Lee, and Marc Perlman from the Neglectors had formed The Jayhawks in Minneapolis by early 1985, playing their first show in front of a small crowd. Louris happened to be in the audience and, after hitting it off with his future songwriting partner Olsen, joined the band. The Jayhawks released their debut album in 1986, pressing only a few thousand copies. The group's popularity grew and Olsen and Louris started to work as a songwriting team. In 1988, Louris was injured in a nearly fatal automobile accident and the band went on hiatus. Meanwhile, in 1989, Twin/Tone Records released Blue Earth, a collection of overdubbed and remixed demos that became a critical success. Louris soon rejoined the rejuvenated band.

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