Son Volt offers new CD; Jayhawks anthology drops

"Music From the North Country: The Jayhawks Anthology" is the first ever compilation from The Jayhawks. The American/Legacy Recordings release is a collection of 20 songs and album tracks that span from their 1989 debut, "Blue Earth," to 2003's "Rainy Day Music." Formed in Minneapolis in 1985 around the songwriting duo of Mark Olson and Gary Louris with bassist Marc Perlman, The Jayhawks merged country, folk and rock. After four studio albums (including "Hollywood Town Hal"l and "Tomorrow The Green Grass"), Olson left in 1995, leaving Louris to carry on with a changing lineup of band members, releasing "Sound Of Lies," "Smile" and "Rainy Day Music." The 20-song career overview will be released separately as a single CD on its own, and as the cornerstone of a deluxe 3-disc set. The pack will contain an additional CD of Jayhawks rarities - out-of-print tracks, demos, outtakes, alternate versions, single B-sides, live material, and one cut from their indie self-released, self-titled debut album of 1986 on the Bunkhouse label (referred to as "The Bunkhouse Album." Fourteen of the 20 tracks on this rarities CD are unreleased.