Alt-country pioneers the Jayhawks gained a following for its mix of rustic Americana sounds, heartland harmonies and classic British pop sensibilities.Cohen/Supplied
Over the past three U.S. presidential elections, any number of American musicians have pledged to move to Canada if the results were not to their liking. Gary Louris was not one of them. Nevertheless.
“I’m looking down on the U.S.A,” he says from his home in Quebec.
The co-founding singer-songwriter of the alt-country pioneers the Jayhawks recently moved to Laurentian Mountains, where he lives with his Canadian wife.
They met – “love at first sight” – at a Jayhawks show in 2019 at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern, where he and the band debuted Living in a Bubble, a song that comments on the raging partisanship in the United States and the news media he believes makes its money on the divisiveness.
Checked in to the Congress Hotel
Flipped on the TV, then I went through my mail
MSNBC and CNN, now the news cycle′s started
Don’t think I can take it again
The Jayhawks began 40 years ago in Minneapolis. Led by Louris and the since-split Mark Olson, the band quickly gained a following for its mix of rustic Americana sounds, heartland harmonies and classic British pop sensibilities.
The Jayhawks song catalogue reflects a Rand McNally existence (Wichita, Somewhere in Ohio, Sioux City, Tampa to Tulsa, Leaving Detroit, Six Pack on the Dashboard) but the band proudly declares its home on its website: “Jayhawks – A band from Minnesota.”
The Jayhawks are mostly apolitical musically. “We stay out of it,” says Louris, born in Ohio during the Eisenhower administration. “We have our views, but sometimes fans want to escape from all that madness.”
Living in Canada while touring regularly in the U.S., Louris prefers what he sees as a more “neutral” Canadian media to U.S. networks and newspapers.
“I blame the media for a lot of the division in the United States,” Louris says. “From CNN to Fox News, from The New York Times to the New York Post, everybody has their business model, and they mine their audiences and try to fan the flames.”
Louris is also critical of the massive amounts of money spent on U.S. political campaigns. According to a report last week from National Public Radio, a whopping US$10.5-billion has been spent on campaign ads in the 2024 election cycle, on races from president down to county commissioner.
“You don’t see that in Canada,” Louris says.
Canada cannot afford to spend at that level, even if one takes the unfavourable exchange rate out of the equation. Of which, Louris quips, “I give 100 per cent on stage, not 60 per cent.” The Jayhawks play Toronto’s Great Hall on Nov. 7 and 8, with dates to follow in Brant, Ont., and Burlington, Ont.
In December, the Jayhawks will give a pair of concerts at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minn. Matthew Sweet was scheduled to appear as the opening act, but the American power-pop icon suffered a debilitating stroke in Toronto last month while on tour with the group Hanson. To help cover health care costs, an online campaign was launched for Sweet, who had no insurance. He was flown back to the U.S. on an ambulance transport plane with medical staff on board.
“Matthew is a friend of mine,” Louris says. “I’ve known him a long time, and we kind of came up through the ranks together. It was really horrifying to hear about the stroke.”
So far more than US$448,000 has been raised. Hearing of Sweet’s plight, some commentators on social media criticized the U.S. health care system. While Louris admits the lack of insurance for U.S. musicians is “scary” and a “big concern,” he’s found that Canada’s medical care isn’t without its problems.
“I don’t want to get on my soapbox about it, but my wife and I are not particularly thrilled with the health care system in Quebec.”
Louris says he has “proudly” voted by absentee ballot for Tuesday’s elections. For whom, he won’t say. The vice-presidential candidate on the Democratic Party ticket is Tim Walz, incumbent governor of the state known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
“Minnesota has a history of being pretty liberal in an otherwise conservative part of the country,” Louris says.
Indeed, prominent Minnesota politicians include Eugene McCarthy, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Amy Klobuchar, all Democrats whose presidential ambitions went unrealized. The state’s 38th governor was Jesse Ventura, a Reform Party centrist who first gained fame as an opinionated professional wrestler.
“Celebritism is a problem in the United States,” says Louris, a fan of former Minnesota senator Al Franken, once upon a time a performer and writer on Saturday Night Live.
His vote cast, Louris says he will watch the election returns with his wife at a friend’s home in Oakville, Ont.
“I’m very proud to be an American. There are problems, but I think they are fixable, hopefully. We’ll see.”