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Chris [Robinson] gets so damned excited. I don't think there's a bigger music fan, and it's all kinds of music. He has everything I don't have. He has confidence and he's high energy. I have confidence in myself but I can be a bit of a doubter and a sad sack and a second thought kind of guy. It's really great to have somebody there to pull you through the ruts. -Gary Louris |
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Image of Chris Robinson by Jay Blakesberg
Branches Bearing Fruit
Besides his own work, Louris has begun producing others in recent years, including The Sadies's New Season, Limbeck's Let Me Come Home and Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion's Exploration.
"With production I feel a little bit like I'm pulling the wool over people's eyes, but I guess that's what all producers do [laughs]. They are there in a positive position to give full attention to the artist and focus things so you can succeed," says Louris. "I don't have any elaborate microphone techniques or anything. I have picked up a few things from watching engineers, and the smartest thing a producer can do is get a really really good engineer."
Gary Louris by Darren Ankenman
"I've made enough records to know what I like AND to know to get engineers that are good and know what I'm talking about," echoes Robinson. "I'm not a technical guy and I'm not gonna make technical records. People come to me looking for a certain vibe. I'm a song-oriented person and an arranger, and what I do well is work with the dynamic and help people explore that energy. But, you also need to make decisions and keep something pointed in a certain direction and keep that energy going, while not being commandeering so you lose the vibe. When people are comfortable and confident making records is kinda easy [laughs]. You want the best material, the best performance and the best sound. What I mean by that is what's happening then and there during the session. Different things happen at different times. Maybe this will be the fashionable mode of making records again. Can you imagine? It'd be fucking hilarious. Like wow, it'd help if everyone could play their instruments and make connections between the emotional content they're trying to portray and the music [laughs]."
Recently, Louris has put a tentative toe into the mainstream country world in Nashville. He played guitar on the Dixie Chicks' massive 2006 release, Taking The Long Way. It was Louris who suggested the Chicks take out former Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed on the Long Way world tour.
"I gave the Chicks his name. They asked me to do it and I told them, 'I know a guy who's a lot better guitar player than I am who's gonna be able to go on the road, too.' I suggested their drummer, too, kind of helped them out with their band," says Louris. "I like working in Nashville. I have to keep at it. You're not seeing my name all over the place. I go down there every few months but I need to be more diligent in building relationships."
There's tunes in Louris' catalog that could conceivably be hit records for established country acts. A song like "Blue" from The Jayhawks much loved 1995 album, Tomorrow The Green Grass, seems custom built for some cowboy hat crooner to belt onto the charts. Nashville has just woken up to the riches in the Americana field in the past few years including Tim McGraw's Top 10 cover of Ryan Adams' "When The Stars Go Blue." The quality of Louris' compositions harks back to the superior radio fare of the '60s and '70s, where one needn't abandon quality simply to get airplay, and would be a welcome change from the crass commercialization that's infected country.
"The Chicks did versions of 'I'd Run Away' and 'All The Right Reasons' when I was there. We had some time in the studio and they were interested. It was never going to be on the last record but there's been talk of a covers record," Louris says. "For one reason or another, my words are a little too vague or quirky for most country artists. We've had a little trouble finding people to cover Jayhawks songs but I don't really know why. 'Blue' is one of those songs I've been told this person or that person was close to cutting but it hasn't happened yet."
Perhaps this hitch comes from the distinctive flavor of Louris' music, both solo and in The Jayhawks. It's a winning sound but also slightly elusive. Just ask anyone who's tried to copy what he does. But, there are worse attributes than being distinctive.
"Years ago, Rick Rubin was asking me to find some songs for Johnny Cash to do, and I said, 'Hey man, what about some of our songs [laughs]?' I was told that Johnny liked them but they were too specifically us. They weren't something he could slip into it, and that's seems to be the common answer out there," concludes Louris.
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