 |
 Singer-songwriter Gary Louris is back in the game with his new solo disc, Vagabonds. |
It took 22 years, but Gary Louris finally has his own name on his own album.
Not to say he hasn't made a name for himself with The Jayhawks, Golden Smog and collaborations with Mark Olson, but his new album Vagabonds marks his first solo effort.
"It may be a little bit past due," Louris says of the album while en route to Madison, Wisc., for a show. "After The Jayhawks it kind of took me awhile to build up enough steam to want to get back out there and in the game a bit. I write songs and the best was for me to get them out there was for me to perform them."
Louris, performing tomorrow night at The Mod Club, says while he has created quite a catalogue of material as a member of The Jayhawks (who went on "indefinite hiatus" in 2005), this new venture is a bit like starting over but without the sense of finding newfound freedom.
"I try to tell people that it wasn't like I was trapped in the band," he says. "I was able to pretty much do what I wanted with the band so it's not like I'm suddenly free. It's interesting for me to be bouncing my ideas off of other people and to force myself to get out there a little bit more as an individual as opposed to a band."
Some of those people Louris brainstormed with included Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson, who produced the record, and The Laurel Canyon Family Choir, a ragtag collective including Robinson, The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs, Jonathan Rice and Jenny Lewis, among others. Louris says the extra help created a live, "off the floor" feel.
|
"I think recording in a studio with other musicians is sort of a dying art," he says. "I wanted to do it again before it goes away. I thought about doing the record myself in a basement with my ProTools, but then it becomes more of a layered, assembly line approach. As good as that can be, I wanted the experience of playing in a real studio with some really great musicians."
Those great musicians are found throughout Vagabonds, whether on the rootsy leadoff number True Blue, the hymnal, waltz-like She Only Calls Me On Sundays, or Black Grass, which Louris says was the most ambitious song.
"Originally, I thought we were going to have strings on it and have it more orchestrated but it was fully realized without them," he says. "I just decided to finish it with vocals instead of strings."
He also cites I Wanna Get High, with its heavy feel as his personal favourite, but says the cut best describing Vagabonds is the title track, a simple number done in a "sweeping, grander way" with the melding of big vocals, pedal steel and keyboards.
In addition to Vagabonds, Louris plans on touring with former Jayhawk Mark Olson later this year behind a new album. He also will be working with The Sadies on some new material, as well as with Toronto area alt.country/roots singer Kirsten Jones on her new album.
But will Louris next solo effort come before 2030?
"I'm hoping to be a little bit more frequent in the releases," he says. "I may have to make some simpler records and get them out quicker."
Sounds like a good idea
They have shared the stage together and worked with various groups such as The Sadies over the years, so the idea of a project between Gary Louris and Blue Rodeo sounds like a perfect match.
But despite breaking in at roughly the same time, the subject has never been brought up.
"I know Greg (Keelor) and Jim Cuddy and Basil (Donovan) and Bob Egan and all those people," Louris says. "But it's just never come up in conversation, you know? Nothing as far as the Blue Rodeo guys but I would love to work with them, of course."
What Louris would probably like to focus on more is ensuring the glut of unreleased material from The Jayhawks sees the light of day. A sea of label changes and legal red tape has resulted in the band's 1986 self-titled debut album still awaiting its CD release.
"It's very frustrating," Louris says. "We were a pretty prolific band that was under represented. I think we were important enough that we deserved to have more stuff out there. Every couple of months I send e-mails and see what's going on but it's like beating your head against the wall a bit at times."