The Jayhawks return to action

Summer tour dates are now confirmed with additional fall shows to be announced shortly.

Louris told Rolling Stone magazine, "Our goal is to make the best Jayhawks album that's ever been done. Mark and I both feel that there is some business left undone, and we got together and wrote some great songs."

In addition to co-writing all the songs with Olson, Louris also produced the record. "Mockingbird Time" was recorded in Minneapolis at The Terrarium Recording Studios over a month's time during the winter of 2010. Other original band members featured on the record include Karen Grotberg (keyboards, vocals), Tim O'Reagan (drums, vocals) and Marc Perlman (bass).

"The difference from then and now is that Mark and I have both experienced different kinds of music and expanded our palates," said Louris. Both artists enjoyed solo careers after leaving The Jayhawks.

"So this record has moments of experimentation and a bit of worldliness. I like a well-crafted, in-and-out kind of song, but with Mark, the lyrics dictate the music, and he'll go off into interesting, asymmetrical compositions," Louris said. "So, it's a nice balance. Certain things were meant to be-like peanut butter and jelly-and Mark and I just work well together. And having done a lot of co-writing during the last six or seven years, I'm more appreciative of the magic that we have together. That doesn't come along very often for anybody."

The band's first career-spanning anthology "Music From The North Country" was released in 2009 by American/Legacy. In August 2010, for the first time on CD, the self-titled debut album from the band (often referred to by fans as The Bunkhouse album) was reissued by Lost Highway Records. In January, the band's first two albums for American Recordings-"Hollywood Town Hall" (1992) and "Tomorrow The Green Grass" (1995)-were re-released with bonus tracks.

In conjunction with these reissues the original Jayhawks line-up shared the stage for the first time in more than 15 years in January, performing in Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Toronto.

The tracks are:

1. Hide Your Colors

2. Closer to Your Side

3. Tiny Arrows

4. She Walks in So Many Ways

5. High Water Blues

6. Mockingbird Time

7. Stand out in the Rain

8. Cinnamon Love

9. Guilder Annie

10. Black Eyed Susan

11. Pouring Rain at Dawn

12. Hey Mr. Man

Tour dates are:
July 2 Chicago, IL Taste of Chicago
July 3 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
July 6 Winnipeg, MB Winnipeg Folk Festival
July 8 Minneapolis, MN Basilica Block Party
July 10 Chicago, IL DMB Caravan Chicago
July 16 Vancouver, BC Vancouver Folk Festival
July 29 Sos del Rey Catolico, Spain Luna Lunera Festival
July 30 Santander, Spain Infest
July 31 Alicante, Spain Auditorium
Aug. 2 Birmingham, UK HMV Institute
Aug. 3 Glasgow, UK ABC
Aug. 4 Manchester, UK Academy 2
Aug. 5 London, UK Forum
Aug. 6 Heuveland, Belgium Dranouter Festival
Aug. 8 Amsterdam, Holland Paradiso
Aug. 9 Hengelo, Holland Metropool
Aug. 10 Copenhagen, Denmark Amanger Bio
Aug. 12 Oslo, Norway Oya Festival
Aug. 13 Gothenburg, Sweden Way Out West
Aug. 14-15 Helsinki, Finland Tavastia
Sept. 17 Mankato, MN Riverfront Park