While critics give the Jayhawks credit for helping invent alt-country, co-founder Mark Olson is quick to downplay the band's contributions to the rustic blend of rock and country that blossomed in the 1980s and '90s.
"If people credit us with it, I think it was more that we happened to be working along the same lines" as other groups, Olson says. "There was definitely people working on the same thing."
Olson left the Jayhawks in 1995 but now is back in the lineup with co-leader Gary Louris. The re-formed Jayhawks played a couple of festivals in Spain in May and are scheduled to play their first U.S. show Friday in Minneapolis.
The concert coincides with Sony Legacy's release Tuesday of "Music ...