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This Jayhawk still flying high

By Devin Grant

Provided/Krissie Gregory

Mark Olson (pictured) and his band will play a show at The Map Room tonight.

Mark Olson has fond memories of playing in the Lowcountry with his former band, The Jayhawks, back in the 90's.

Speaking on the phone two weeks ago while driving to one of the more than 100 gigs he's played in the last year, Olson advised, "Yeah, we had really good shows there. I remember that."

Olson left the Jayhawks at the height at that band's popularity, opting to care for his wife at the time, Victoria Williams, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The first "Sweet Relief" benefit album was recorded as a way to raise money for Williams, who had no health insurance. Olson and Williams formed the Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers, which enjoyed a small following before Olson and Williams split up in 2005. The breakup and Olson's subsequent wanderings in the U.S. and Europe formed the basis of what would become "The Salvation Blues," Olson's latest release on HackTone Records.

The album is full of the same sort of organic, well-written music that attracted listeners to Olson's work with The Jayhawks. Olson, who performs at The Map Room tonight in West Ashley, took a little time out of his busy schedule to talk about his career, the new album, and memories of playing in Charleston.

Preview: Since many know you best from your days with the Jayhawks, can you talk a little bit about what it was like to be in that band as the whole alt-country movement was emerging in the '90s?

Olson: We came out at a time and a place that was a little more hard rock, as far as the Minnesota scene went at that time. We actually tried to express ourselves in a different way. Gary had some Louvin Brothers albums and some Flying Burrito Brothers albums, and I was into Woody Guthrie, and we started out as sort of a hopped-up country band. We really found our own style on the "Blue Earth" album, where we started to sing the whole song through in harmony, and we started using minor chords in our progression. For a number of years we just played in bars, and there were two scenes in Minnesota; there was the rock scene and then there was a blues scene. Since we couldn't play at the rock clubs all the time, we got gigs at the blues places. We didn't really start touring for any length of time until after the "Hollywood Town Hall" record came out. That was going on the seventh or eighth year the band had been together."

Preview: How did the project that eventually became "The Salvation Blues" come about?

Olson: I kind of reached a point where I needed to start over. I'd been touring (with the Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers) all these years in Europe, and I'd made some friends over there, and so I went over there to visit them. They suggested I try to work up some new songs. I spent a couple of months (in Europe) in Wales, Norway, and then Poland, and I did a little tour in London. I came back home and kept on writing throughout the summer and put together about 20 songs and then picked the songs that were on the album. We recorded it pretty quickly. It was mostly the time spent writing and coming up with the songs that set the album apart. It felt good to do it, like another way of doing music."

Preview: How was the experience of recording a solo album different from collaborating with the Jayhawks or the Creekdippers?

Olson: With the Jayhawks I worked with Gary (Louris), and we worked together on the how-to's, the where's, the why's. With the Creekdippers, it was with Victoria (Williams), Mike (Russell) and I, and we made those kind of like field recordings, with a folk setting, and I did all the engineering. So this time I kind of put the two ways of doing it together.

I've always been of the idea that you have to do a lot before you go into the studio, so I came up with the songs, and I worked with Michele (Gazich), who is playing violin for me and Ingunn (Ringvold) who is singing with me. We were performing the songs, rehearsing them, and then I just rehearsed the band really quickly two days before we made the record. Ben (Vaughn) was responsible for the sound, and the recording. He was the producer, and so I kind of put the two different ways together. It was also the first time I had done anything without a strong singer-songwriter in the band - the first time I'd done anything on my own that way, so it was a little different that way."

Preview: Is there a song on the CD of which you are particularly proud?

Olson: Yeah, I really like the first two songs ("My Carol" and "Clifton Bridge") to play live. That, in a way, is my style, as far as the grooves and the beats, that's how I sing and play. I spent a day on each (song), and they came pretty easy. There wasn't a struggle while writing them.

Preview: You recently played some shows with Gary Louris. Is there any chance of you guys collaborating or recording?

Olson: We've actually made a record. It'll come out on HackTone Records. It's called "Ready for the Flood," and it's going to come out in September. It's all brand new songs that we wrote. We're also going to see each other in Europe this summer. We're playing in a lot of the same places, and we'll play together over there a bit. The tour (for "Ready for the Flood") here in the US won't start until January of next year.

Contact Devin Grant at chucktowncritic@yahoo.com.