Gary Louris

The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene during the mid 1980s. Their country rock... sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s like Uncle Tupelo, The Gear Daddies and The Honeydogs. They have released several studio albums, including five on the American Recordings label. On hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the band has since reunited and released a new album, "Mockingbird Time," in September 2011. The band formed in 1985 in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Mark Olson , Gary Louris , Marc Perlman and Norm Rogers . Their first album The Jayhawks was released by Bunkhouse Records, a small independent label, in 1986. Their music at the time, mostly written by Olson, showed a strong roots/country-rock influence. Rogers left to be replaced by Thad Spencer and the band worked for the next years on demo tapes in search of a major label recording contract. During this period, Louris left the band briefly and Dan Gaarder replaced him.
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Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label in the United States, Rykodisc was founded in... 1983 in Salem, Massachusetts, by Arthur Mann, Rob Simonds, Doug Lexa and Don Rose. In the late 1980s, the label also began to issue high-quality cassette and vinyl versions of many releases under the name Ryko Analogue. Rykodisc had some notable successes in the CD-reissue industry, as artists such as Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Yoko Ono, Frank Zappa, Nick Drake, Nine Inch Nails, Robert Wyatt, and Mission of Burma allowed Rykodisc to issue their catalogs on CD. Rykodisc still retains the rights to the Zappa catalog. Rykodisc also re-released the SST Records-era recordings by the Meat Puppets. Over the years the label has acquired Hannibal Records, Tradition Records, Gramavision Records, Emperor Norton Records, Restless Records and, most recently, Cordless Recordings. Rykodisc also founded a distribution company, Ryko Distribution, and a music publishing company, Rykomusic.
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Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th... century but is often applied to music that is older than that. Certain types of folk music are also called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers; another is music that has been transmitted and evolved by a process of oral transmission or performed by custom over a long period of time. Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the folk revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. The most common name for this new form of music is also "folk music", but is often called "contemporary folk music" or "folk revival music" to make the distinction. This type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others.
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