For those of us who came to Americana via indie-rock or alt-rock, that journey was often inspired by some great crossover bands of the 1990s and subsequent years, such as Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown and the Drive-By Truckers. However, there’s an argument to be made that the most persuasive of them all was The Jayhawks. Great songwriting, sublime multi-part vocal harmonies and a mix of sweet acoustic strumming and scorching, fuzzed-out guitar solos ticked all the boxes.
This clip is from just after the release of ‘Hollywood Town Hall’, their first album on a major label. They’d recently added to their overall sound by recruiting the excellent Karen Grotberg on keyboards and backing vocals. Around this time the band was touring intensively both at home and internationally and, as can be seen from this clip, huge festival audiences across the world were being introduced to their seductive mix of alt-rock and Americana.
Great album.