| Back Roads and Abandoned Motels | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 13, 2018 | |||
| Studio | Flowers Studio, Minneapolis, Minnesota | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Legacy Recordings | |||
| Producer | Gary Louris, John Jackson, Ed Ackerson | |||
| The Jayhawks chronology | ||||
| ||||
Back Roads and Abandoned Motels is the tenth studio album by the alt country band the Jayhawks, released on July 13, 2018. [1] [2]
Along with two new songs written by Gary Louris, the album mainly features songs co-written by Louris for previous projects. They include "Come Cryin' to Me" (Natalie Maines' album Mother ); "Everybody Knows" and "Bitter End" (Dixie Chicks' album Taking the Long Way ); "Gonna Be a Darkness" (Jakob Dylan); "Bird Never Flies" (Ari Hest); "Need You Tonight" (Scott Thomas); "El Dorado" (Carrie Rodriguez); "Backwards Women" (The Wild Feathers) and "Long Time Ago" (Emerson Hart). [3] "These [songs] did not feel like covers," Louris said. "These songs all felt like they were in our wheelhouse." [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [4] |
| American Songwriter | [5] |
| PopMatters |   [6] |
In his review for Allmusic, critic Mark Deming wrote the album "finds Louris and his bandmates mixing up their formula, introducing new edges and angles to the group's evocative, lonesome Midwestern sound." and "this album demonstrates that Louris still knows how to make a memorable album as the group's sole leader." [4] PopMatters called the album "a triumph" and "All of the classic signifiers of a Jayhawks album are here—the sublime harmonies, the folk-rock jangle, the wry takes on relationships, and an eye always tuned to the impermanence of things—but with Karen Grotberg and Tim O'Reagan each taking lead on two of the album's cuts, the band plays with a looser confidence than they've previously captured in the studio." [6]
Production
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [7] | 91 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [8] | 100 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [9] | 28 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [10] | 24 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [11] | 94 |
Martha Elenor Maguire is an American musician who is a founding member of both the all-female alternative country band The Chicks that previously went by the name “The Dixie Chicks” and country bluegrass duo Court Yard Hounds. She won awards in national fiddle championships while still a teenager. Maguire is accomplished on several other instruments, including the mandolin, viola, double bass and guitar. She has written and co-written a number of the band's songs, some of which have become chart-topping hits. She also contributes her skills in vocal harmony and backing vocals, as well as orchestrating string arrangements for the band.
The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene in the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists/guitarists/songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s, such as Uncle Tupelo, the Gear Daddies and the Honeydogs. They have released eleven studio albums, with and without Olson, including five on the American Recordings label. After going on hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1995 lineup of the band reunited and released the album Mockingbird Time in September 2011; Olson left the band for the second time after the tour to promote the album. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums originally released between 1997 and 2003. Since then, the band has continued to tour and record, releasing the albums Live at The Belly Up in 2015; Paging Mr. Proust, co-produced by Peter Buck, in 2016; Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018; and XOXO in 2020.
Gary Michael Louris is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson. Louris is often credited with the band's subsequent move from folk-country toward a more progressive, pop sound.
Tomorrow the Green Grass is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on February 14, 1995. It peaked at number 92 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Taking the Long Way is the seventh studio album by American country music group Dixie Chicks. Released on May 23, 2006, through Columbia Nashville, it was also the group's last album released under the “Dixie Chicks” name. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold over 2.5 million copies in the U.S., being certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 11, 2007. It won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year in February 2007.
Sound of Lies is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks. It peaked at number 112 on the Billboard 200.
Rainy Day Music is the seventh studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on April 8, 2003. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 51, selling 19,000 copies that week.
"Everybody Knows" is a country–pop song written and performed by the American band Dixie Chicks. It was released as the second physical single from their seventh studio album, Taking the Long Way (2006).
"Cowboy Take Me Away" is a song by American country music group Dixie Chicks, written by Martie Maguire and Marcus Hummon. It was released in November 1999 as the second single from their album Fly. The song's title is derived from a famous slogan used in commercials for Calgon bath and beauty products. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart in February 2000.
Mark John Olson is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of alternative country bands The Jayhawks and the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers.
The Jayhawks is a 1986 album by The Jayhawks. It is also known as the Bunkhouse Tapes. The 1986 pressing was limited to 2,000 copies.
Vagabonds is the first solo album by American singer/songwriter and Jayhawks member Gary Louris, released in 2008.
Ready for the Flood is an album by former Jayhawks bandmates Mark Olson and Gary Louris, released in Europe on December 1, 2008, and in the US on January 29, 2009. It was their first collaboration since Olson had left the band in 1995.
Music From The North Country – The Jayhawks Anthology is a compilation album by The Jayhawks, released in 2009.
Court Yard Hounds were an American country music and folk duo, founded by sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison. They, along with Natalie Maines, make up The Chicks, formerly the Dixie Chicks. The sisters decided to record a side project under a different name. Court Yard Hounds, featuring Robison for the first time as lead vocalist, released a debut album for Columbia Records, the same label for which the Dixie Chicks has recorded, on May 4, 2010. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, initially selling 61,000 copies. It has sold approximately 825,000 copies in the United States.
Mockingbird Time is the eighth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released on September 20, 2011. The album marked the returns of the original front man Mark Olson, who had left the group in 1995 after the release of Tomorrow the Green Grass, and long-time keyboard player Karen Grotberg. Mockingbird Time was the first new studio album by The Jayhawks since 2003's Rainy Day Music. The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #38, becoming the highest-charting release of their career to date. It also charted at #2 on Billboard's Folk Albums chart, #6 on the Tastemaker Albums chart, and #11 on the Rock Albums chart.
Live at the Belly Up is a digital-only live album recorded in January 2015 by The Jayhawks live in Solana Beach, released on February 10, 2015 as an exclusive download from the Belly Up Live website. The album went into wider digital release in April 2015 including a high-resolution audio version.
Paging Mr. Proust is the ninth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released in 2016.
John Jackson is a musician and record label executive, known for being the guitarist for the Jayhawks. He plays guitar, mandolin and violin.
XOXO is the eleventh studio album by the alt country band the Jayhawks, released on July 10, 2020. The album is dedicated to Ed Ackerson.
