Mark Olson | |
|---|---|
 Olson on May 30, 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | September 18, 1961 Minneapolis, Minnesota US |
| Genres | Folk, Americana, alternative country |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels | Glitterhouse Records |
| Website | Official homepage page |
Mark John Olson [1] (born September 18, 1961 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of alternative country bands The Jayhawks and the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers.
Olson formed the Jayhawks in 1985 with singer and guitarist Gary Louris and was originally the principal singer-songwriter in the group. [2]
Their first album for Def American was the Drakoulias-produced Hollywood Town Hall in 1992. [3] After a successful single, "Waiting for the Sun", and extensive touring the band went back in the studio and released the follow-up, Tomorrow the Green Grass in 1995, which yielded the radio hit "Blue". The same year Olson quit the Jayhawks to look after his wife, Victoria Williams, after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and the band continued without him, releasing three more albums before going on hiatus in 2005. [2] [4]
For his post-Jayhawks career, Olson returned to his folk and country roots and with Williams and multi-instrumentalist Mike "Razz" Russell released the well-received album The Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers in 1997. The trio teamed up again for the 1998 album Pacific Coast Rambler and 1999's Zola and the Tulip Tree .
By 2000, Olson releasing the autobiographical My Own Jo Ellen as Mark Olson and the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers. Two more albums recorded with the Creekdippers followed, December's Child in 2002 (which saw him reunited with Louris for the first time in seven years on the track "Say You'll Be Mine") and Mystic Theatre (which also featured Williams) in 2004. The same year saw the release of another Creekdippers album, Political Manifest .
After splitting from Williams in 2005, Olson paired up once again with Louris for two short tours in the winter of 2005 and the spring of 2006. [5] He released his acclaimed solo album The Salvation Blues in June 2007. The album, written while he was staying with Cardiff-based folk singer and writer Charlotte Greig and her husband, novelist John Williams, was inspired by his divorce. [6] [7]
After the release of The Salvation Blues, Olson toured the United States and Europe with Italian violinist Michele Gazich and Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Ingunn Ringvold (Sailorine) playing djembe, percussion and piano and singing harmony vocals. They played more than 300 shows together.
An album with Louris, Ready for the Flood , produced by Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, was released in November 2008 (January 2009 in the U.S.). [8]
In 2011 the Jayhawks reunited and recorded a new album. The lineup consisted of Olson, Louris, Perlman, Karen Grotberg, and Tim O'Reagan, and, as Louris says, "Our goal is to make the best Jayhawks album that's ever been done". The album, Mockingbird Time, was released September 20. The band toured in support. In 2012 Olson again left the band. [9]
Victoria Williams is an American singer, songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the early 1990s, Williams was the catalyst for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.
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.
December's Child is the fifth album from The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers released in 2002.
The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers were an Americana group formed by songwriter Mark Olson and his wife, Victoria Williams, after Olson left his previous band, the Jayhawks. The group has also been called Rolling Creekdippers as well as just Creekdippers.
David Wolfenberger is a singer-songwriter from Cincinnati, Ohio. Former frontman for The Marshwiggles and Thom Scarecrow, Wolfenberger has three solo CDs to date; Tales From Thom Scarecrow, and World of the Satisfy'n Place on Blue Jordan Records and more recently in 2006 on Fundamental Records, Portrait of Narcissus. Wolfenberger also toured and recorded as a member of Mark Olson and Victoria Williams' Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers. Wolfenberger occasionally records under the pseudonym Sunrise for Someone.
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.
Hollywood Town Hall is the third studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 192 on the Billboard 200. The cover art for the album was shot in Hollywood Township, Carver County, Minnesota by British photographer Andrew Catlin.
My Own Jo Ellen the fourth album by Mark Olson and The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, released in October 17, 2000.
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.
The Salvation Blues is a 2007 solo album by singer/songwriter Mark Olson.
Zola and the Tulip Tree is the third album by the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, released in 1999. It was originally released by Atlantic Records and later reissued by Rhino Entertainment.
The Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers is the first album by the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, released in 1997.
Pacific Coast Rambler is the second album by the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, released in 1998. As with their first release, it is a home-made recording with the focus on Mark Olson.
Mystic Theatre is the sixth album by Mark Olson, Victoria Williams and the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, released in 2004.
Political Manifest is the seventh album by the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, released in 2004. The album reflects singer/songwriter Mark Olson's disgust at the state of the US. It was released on Mercy Recordings in the US.
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.
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.
Paging Mr. Proust is the ninth studio album by the alt country band The Jayhawks, released in 2016.
Musings of a Creek Dipper is an album by the American musician Victoria Williams, released in 1998. The album cover artwork is a photograph of Williams in an Oxnard, California, creek. Williams supported the album with a short tour, which included playing the Calgary Folk Music Festival.
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