Interview: The Jayhawks' Gary Louris

It's safe to say that the career of Minneapolis-based roots insurgents the Jayhawks has been as bumpy as the country roads they're known to croon about. Line-up shuffles and major label tussles haven't stopped the band, and the fizzy '70s-flavored Americana of its fifth album, the Bob Ezrin-produced "Smile" (Columbia), steers the band in an edgier direction. What's the secret to the Jayhawks' longevity? Scott Henkemeyer found out from head 'Hawk Gary Louris.

SoundSpike: It's been three years since your last release. What have you been up to?

While we were waiting for Warner Brothers and American to sort out their differences, we bought a bunch of recording gear and learned how to use it. We wrote a lot of songs and did some small tours here and there. We explored our own backyard a bit and went to places like North and South Dakota.

How did you connect with Bob Ezrin?

Bob was on a list that was sent to us from Columbia. Columbia was helping us look for producers, 'cause we were sort of a loss after awhile. We had chased the flavors of the month and got tired of being left on hold. We kind of started doing the record ourselves and found that that didn't work; we disagree too much.

Columbia sent the list, Bob's name was on it, and we knew his records. He was sent a tape and responded with a very long letter extolling our virtues and criticizing our shortcomings. He said he'd love to work on the record if we were willing to work hard on the material.

And the process worked out slickly?

"Slickly" is maybe a misleading word. It took a long time because Bob was a real taskmaster about giving us a full effort. He didn't want to go into the studio until we were really ready. He wanted [all the songs] to be great. It was an important record for him, too, because he hadn't been working much and he had been coming out of retirement. He really poured his heart and soul into it. But once we got into the studio, it went really quickly.

Was it a tougher session than on other records?

No, not all, just different. George [Drakoulias, producer of the Jayhawks' "Hollywood Town Hall" and "Tomorrow the Green Grass"] is a great producer who prefers to spend most of the time getting the greatest take possible. Bob spends a lot more time making sure we've worked hard on the front end--making sure the songs were written and a plan was made, mapping out the record from start to finish.

Do you think fans are surprised by the poppier "Sound of Lies" and "Smile?"

We've been somewhat sheltered here at home. What I found is, when we did out and did some press and shows early on [to support this record], I was taken by the fact that there were a lot of people who loved "Sound of Lies." We didn't really get that feedback, because we didn't tour much on it.

As far as this record goes, I've gotten good response so far. It's not up to me to take a poll of what the audience wants and do it. I think we owe it to our audience to do what comes from the heart. I think our fans are multi-dimensional people just like we are, and a lot of people who listen to what would be called alt-country or whatever, really didn't grow up listening to country. Their roots are probably rock like ours.

The band has suffered its share of scrapes in its history.

It's inevitable, if you're together as long as we've been. It's just the way things are. But we're still here making records. I think we'd all like to be farther up the ladder in certain ways, but we know a lot of people who are very talented who can't get arrested. We're very lucky in many ways. I guess the only thing that I regret really is the fact that the number of records we've released over the years, I think, should have been twice what we have. That's a little frustrating. Of course, that just probably means we'll put out a box set one day.