Mark Olson

The Salvation Blues

(Hacktone Records)

When Mark Olson exited the Jayhawks, he not only left musical partner Gary Louris to realign the beloved Minneapolis country-rockers but left fans missing the tenor harmonies the pair conjured. Olson’s rich, reedy tone and Louris’ sparkling, warm and honeyed lilt remain unmatched in recent music. One of the many wonderful things about 2007’s Olson’s The Salvation Blues is the return of the Olson and Louris’ harmonies; the two began touring together the year before and then began participating in each other’s recordings. This is certainly no Jayhawks record, however. With the disc housed in a mock hardcover book, it is a pure statement from Olson that finds him taking stock of life while wrapped in love’s dissolution. The Salvation Blues is a sad, contemplative collection of songs tied together in a pervasive setting of drifting, desert lonesomeness and sorrow. There are moments—like the vintage Jayhawks-style number “Poor Michael’s Boat”—where the sunshine reigns. Largely, however, this painful and painstakingly crafted collection of gorgeous songs folds to the loss of warmth. The somber “Sandy Denny” is more than a paen to the English folkie. With lines like “Things we dislike in others we find in ourselves/Summer left us with one” it’s hard not hard to find the traces of Olson’s crumbled marriage with singer Victoria Williams. Similarly, the lovely, regret-laden closer “My One Book Philosophy” suggests “a honeymoon no more” to a spare electric Wurlitzer. It’s the epilogue of The Salvation Blues and the best way to sum it all up, sort of a “Buckets of Rain” at the end of Olson’s own Blood on the Tracks.

—donny kutzbach

Mark Olson plays the 9th Ward at Babeville on Friday, April 25 (8pm, $12; 852-3835 / www.babevillebuffalo.com). Local support comes in the form of singer/songwriter Roger Bryan who is currently at work on the follow up to 2007’s Engine Hum.