Jayhawks' Mark Olson to grace Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, Duluth and Madison

MARK OLSON ENLISTS BUZZWORTHY BANDS AS TOUR OPENERS

JAYHAWKS LEGENDARY CO-FOUNDER INVITES RISING ARTISTS TO JOIN VARIOUS TOUR DATES

US TOUR BEGINS END OF AUGUST AS NEW RYKO CD MANY COLORED KITE GARNERS ACCLAIM

OLSON TO KEYNOTE 23RD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FOLK ALLIANCE IN MEMPHIS 2011
"Mark Olson, founding member of the Jayhawks, has the autonomy and musical prowess to defy that unnecessary descriptive clause that often comes after his name..."--American Songwriter Magazine

Cory Chisel, Breathe Owl Breathe, Backyard Tire Fire, Vandaveer and Ivan & Aloyosha are among the buzzworthy bands invited to join renowned Jayhawks’ founder Mark Olson on his upcoming US tour beginning August 27^th in Los Angeles. Olson will perform songs from his just- released Ryko album, Many Colored Kite, the impressive follow-up to his solo debut Salvation Blues.  Both releases have garnered much praise from media and industry alike. The singer/songwriter will be joined on his acoustic tour by musical collaborator and girlfriend Ingun Ringvold, who co-wrote two songs on Many Colored Kite.  Olson is expected to perform songs from his Jayhawks’ years as well.

It was also just announced that Folk Alliance International has asked Olson to join David Bromberg as a keynote speaker at the 23rd Annual International Folk Alliance 2011 convention which will take place from February 16-20th 2011 in Memphis, TN. The International Folk Alliance conference is one of the largest annual music conferences in North America and draws together musicians and music industry professionals from around the world to share ideas, network, and celebrate traditional music and dance.   Past keynote speakers have included Byrds' founding member, Roger McGuinn and folk legend Buffy Sainte-Marie.

A musical innovator who began his career as part of the alternative rock and folk band scene from the Midwest, Mark Olson was an instant critics' darling.  His early work with the Jayhawks as well as with Victoria Williams resulted in some of the best musical moments of that era and earned him lasting respect within the alternative music community.  It is with this sense of community and commitment to helping bands that Olson chose to offer opening slots to these young artists as part of his tour.

“I’m really looking forward to playing with these bands. They’re all so good. I can’t wait to get started,” expresses Mark Olson.

Named one of Rolling Stone’s “Best New Artists” of 2009, Wisconsin folk-rocker Cory Chisel made his major-label debut with Death Won’t Send A Letter in the fall of last year with a dark and urgent rock and roll vision.  It takes a romantic albeit gutsy stance on the meaning of love and spirituality, as the songs seek to make sense of the world outside and human desires within C reconciling the call of the road and a longing for home, literally and figuratively. Death Won't Send A Letter, was produced by Joe Chiccarelli (The Shins, The White Stripes) and features members of The Raconteurs and My Morning Jacket.

In a Lincoln Log cabin in deep rural Michigan live and work Micah Middaugh, Trevor Hobbs, and Andréa Moreno-Beals. This is Breathe Owl Breathe. The trio's new album, Magic Central, is a timeless aural cartogram of feeling, souls, skill, and story, much of which was born out of experiences living at the cabin. (The cabin was built by Micah's grandfather, a radical preacher who traveled by dogsled.) For some time the cabin was Micah's home and print studio, but after Trevor and Andréa moved in, it slowly morphed into Magic Central - a place where there is no distinction between working, creating, songwriting, practicing and playing. Recorded throughout the winter in the cabin as Andréa traveled to and from Brazil (she is from Colombia), the album features themes of distance and proximity, chill and tropic, opera and grumble.

Backyard Tire Fire is building on the momentum of their new record Good to Be, which was produced by Grammy-winning Producer and member of Los Lobos, Steve Berlin.  For the band’s fifth full-length release, BTF have spread the stylistic court with a rich, ever-expanding palette of aural rock ’n’ roll colors and textures that tap into bouncy, Kinks-meet-Squeeze Brit pop-rock, Tom Petty-styled Southern rock, and Beatles-esque majesty. Good to Be has been the band’s most successful record to date, garnering coverage from a wide range of publications including Paste Magazine, Washington Post, PopMatters.com, My Old Kentucky Blog and Daytrotter.com.

            Vandaveer is Mark Charles Heidinger, a man who knows how to charm via the medium of song. His melodies are easy, welcoming and filled with splendor, and intelligent enough to be on the right side of radio-friendly. While humble, his folk is not twee or sappy. Divide & Conquer, Vandaveer's 2nd album, was released in 2009, aided and abetted by the angelic vocals of his good sister Rose. Here is the proof that you can be modest and commanding in the same breath.

Seattle's Ivan & Alyosha take their musical inspiration from vintage folk-pop. Formed in 2007, the band has gained traction following the release of their debut EP The Verse, The Chorus and a successful stop at SXSW 2010. NPR Music have been one of the first champions of the band. They picked Ivan & Alyosha as one of the Top 100 at SXSW and then selected the band's "Easy to Love" as NPR's Song of The Day in April. Most recently they invited I&A down to DC to tape an episode of their Tiny Desk Concerts, to be posted this fall. Ivan & Alyosha will release a new EP in October.

MARK OLSON SUMMER/FALL 2010 U.S. TOUR DATES08/27   Los Angeles, CA                    McCabe’s Guitar Shop w/ Ivan & Alyosha
09/07   San Francisco, CA                  Café du Nord w/ Ivan & Alyosha
09/09   Portland, OR                           Mississippi Studios w/ AA Bondy, Mike Coykendall, The Alialujah Choir

and Henry Wagons

09/10   Seattle, WA                            The Triple Door w/ Ivan & Alyosha
09/11   Bellingham, WA                     Green Frog Café Acoustic Tavern w/ Ivan & Alyosha
09/12   Minneapolis, MN                    Varsity Theater

09/13   Grand Rapids, MN                 KAXE Closing Tent              
09/14   Duluth, MN                            Pizza Luce w/ Cory Chisel
09/15   Madison, WI                           High Noon Saloon with Cory Chisel
09/16   Milwaukee, WI                       Club Garibaldi w/ Backyard Tire Fire
09/17   Chicago, IL                             Schuba’s w/ Cory Chisel
09/18   Louisville, KY                        The Rudyard Kipling w/ Vandaveer
09/19   St. Louis, MO                         The Old Rock House w/ Vandaveer
09/21   Easton, MD                             Nightcat w/ Vandaveer
09/22   Philadelphia, PA                     World Café Live w/ Vandaveer
09/23   Vienna, VA                             Jammin’ Java w/Vandaveer
09/24   New York, NY                        Joe’s Pub
09/25   Northampton, MA                   Iron Horse Music Hall w/ Breathe Owl Breathe

09/26   Cambridge, MA                       Club Passim w/ Breathe Owl Breathe
09/27   Portland, ME                          Online Longfellow Square w Vandaveer
09/28   Ithaca, NY                               Wildfire Lounge w/ Vandaveer
09/29   Brooklyn, NY                          The Rock Shop