Gary Louris

No matter what name is on the marquee -- Jayhawks, Golden Smog and now, somewhat reluctantly, only his own -- Louris' songs are easy to pick out. The titles on Vagabonds -- "True Blue," "I Wanna Get High," "Omaha Nights" -- show his inspirations have much in common with late-day Jayhawks, but by not dividing real estate with other songwriters, the themes of redemption and escapism -- though death, drugs or simply skipping town -- seem fully fleshed out. This collection realizes the long-known potential of one of America's finest contemporary songwriters.

The former Jayhawks singer’s solo debut has “classic” written all over it — almost
classic-by-the-numbers, with organic production and gentle homages to John Lennon and
CSN&Y. In acoustic beauties “To Die a Happy Man” and “She Only Calls Me on Sundays,”
his cracking tenor gets a lift from the joyful noise of the Laurel Canyon Family Choir, led by
the album’s producer, Chris Robinson. Like the works of Louris’ old band, Va... More >