The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene during the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists, guitarists and songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, its country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s like Uncle Tupelo, the Gear Daddies and the Honeydogs. They have released eleven studio albums with and without Olson who left the band in 1995, including five on the American Recordings label. On hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1995 lineup of the band reunited, releasing the album, Mockingbird Time, in September 2011. After the tour, Olson again left the band. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums released between 1997 and 2003. The band has remained active touring and recording since, including the release of the albums Live at The Belly Up in 2015, Paging Mr. Proust, produced by Peter Buck in 2016, Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018 and XOXO in 2020.
Live from First Avenue, Minneapolis was released by Mark Mallman in 2003. Fifth album from Mallman. It was released on September 23, 2003 on Susstones and re-released on Jackpine Social Club on February 28, 2006.
Golden Smog is an alternative country-rock supergroup of loosely connected musicians mostly from the Minneapolis area. At various times, members of Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Wilco, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, The Honeydogs and Big Star have worked with Golden Smog. Given the fluid collaborative nature of Golden Smog the lineup has often changed, but relative constants who appear on all the recordings are guitarists Kraig Johnson, Dan Murphy and Gary Louris, along with bassist Marc Perlman.
On Golden Smog was the debut EP from American band Golden Smog, released in 1992.
Weird Tales is American band Golden Smog's second album, released in 1998. The title comes from the pulp magazine Weird Tales; the cover art, by Margaret Brundage, is from the October 1933 issue.
Another Fine Day is Golden Smog's third full-length album. It was released on July 18, 2006. It reached number 95 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Polara is an American alternative rock band formed in 1994 by Ed Ackerson, a musician and producer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band was considered one of the most prominent and creative groups to emerge from Minneapolis in the 1990s. Billboard writer Deborah Russell called Ackerson and Polara the front of "the emergence of a new local scene" more interested in pop music and postpunk than the punk rock of bands like Hüsker Dü and The Replacements.
Smile is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on May 9, 2000. It reached number 129 on the Billboard 200 and number 14 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart.
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.
Let Me Come Home is the third album by Doghouse Records recording artist Limbeck. It was released in 2005.
Blood on the Slacks is the fourth full-length album by the American band Golden Smog. It was released by Lost Highway Records on April 24, 2007, less than a year after their previous album, Another Fine Day. The album's name is a play on Bob Dylan's 1975 album Blood On The Tracks. It was the first release from the group to not feature the Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy as part of the lineup since 1992's On Golden Smog.
Paging Mr. Proust is the ninth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released in 2016.
Back Roads and Abandoned Motels is the tenth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released on July 13, 2018.
Ed Ackerson was an American musician and producer from Minneapolis. He produced or engineered dozens of records including works by prominent artists such as The Jayhawks, The Replacements, Motion City Soundtrack, Soul Asylum, Golden Smog, Dave Davies of The Kinks, Wesley Stace, Mason Jennings, Mark Mallman, John Strohm, Brian Setzer, Lizzo, Pete Yorn, The Wallflowers, Rhett Miller of The Old 97s, Jeremy Messersmith, and Juliana Hatfield. He owned a recording studio in Minneapolis, Flowers, and co-founded the Susstones record label. Ackerson led several notable Twin Cities pop/rock bands including Polara and The 27 Various, and released several solo records under his own name. He was also a prolific producer of albums by Twin Cities bands, and was regarded as one of the linchpins of the Minnesota music scene.
Polara is the self-titled first album by Minneapolis alternative rock band Polara.
C'est la Vie is the second album by Minneapolis alternative rock band Polara, and their first for Interscope Records.
Pantomime is a 1996 five-song EP by Minneapolis alternative rock band Polara, released shortly before their second full-length C'est la Vie, their major-label debut for Interscope Records.
Formless/Functional is a 1998 album by Minneapolis alternative rock band Polara, their third full-length album and their last for Interscope Records.
Beekeeping is a 2008 album by Minneapolis alternative rock band Polara, their fifth and final full-length release. It was released on bandleader Ed Ackerson's Susstones Records label and produced by Ackerson at his recording studio, Flowers.
Flowers Studio is a recording studio in Minneapolis founded by Ed Ackerson, leader of the alternative rock bands Polara and the 27 Various, and co-founder of the Susstones Records label. Many notable musicians have recorded at the studio, including the Jayhawks, The Replacements, Motion City Soundtrack, Brian Setzer, Golden Smog, Mark Mallman, Soul Asylum, the Old 97's Rhett Miller, Clay Aiken, the Wallflowers, Pete Yorn, Juliana Hatfield, Free Energy, Lizzo, Jeremy Messersmith, and Joseph Arthur.
