Review: “Ready For The Flood,” Mark Olson & Gary Louris
This pair of excellent singer/songwriters founded Americana giants the Jayhawks way back in 1985 and this album is the first recorded collabo
ration between the two since Olson left that band in 1995. Ready For The Flood is a mostly acoustic album, putting the salt-and-pepper harmony of the two singers front and center. Songs like “The Rose Society” and “Bicycle” are closest to the trademark Jayhawks sound, but the duo really stretch for some nice ballads, including “Saturday Morning On Sunday Street.” At times, the songs evoke a Peter, Paul and Mary-Simon & Garfunkel 1960’s folk vibe and the program touches also on a little gospel and bluegrass. This would be a nice album for a Sunday morning with coffee and the newspaper.
Mark Olson and Gary Louris will appear at SXSW in Austin, on Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m. in the parking lot of Jo’s Coffee Shop. They will also appear on KGSR radio, Thursday at noon.
