The Jayhawks founder Mark Olson's new solo album, Many Colored Kite, hit stores yesterday via Ryko and he's hitting the road to promote it. Here is the announcement: The critically-acclaimed artist, whose influential catalogue spans 25 years, has also just announced his upcoming U.S. tour in support of the July 27th release. Olson will be accompanied on this acoustic tour by multi-instrumentalist Ingunn Ringvold, who co-wrote two songs with Olson on Many Colored Kite. Also in support of the new CD, Ryko offers a download/stream of the new single, "Bluebell Song" here
Many Colored Kite is the gifted troubadour's long-awaited follow-up to his 2007 personal milestone, Salvation Blues, a soul-searching album of loss and change which further cemented Olson's reputation as one of the true heroes of the folk/roots scene and garnered rave reviews for its autobiographical, often painful songs, as noted by The New York Times Critics pick.
It's a hopeful Olson who greets the listener on Many Colored Kite, with its earthy, neo-folk feel. Paste Magazine observes "Many Colored Kite finds Olson fusing his 'desert country' sound with classic and 60's British folk tropes for an album buoyed by harmonies from girlfriend Ingunn Ringvold
opening track 'Little Bird of Freedom' features vocals from Jolie Holland
Vashti Bunyan lends her talents to 'No Time to Live Without Her,' a song that celebrates love." The Dallas Observer calls Olson, "a songwriter of unique vision..." and Popmatters considers Many Colored Kite "unpretentious but not un-ambitious--daring to be almost embarrassingly forthright and earnest," adding "that's always been Olson's way: never trendy...so steeped in classic American song that his body of work seems to exist out of time."
Produced and engineered by Beau Raymond (Devendra Banhart, Little Joy, Mark Olson and Gary Louris) and featuring the core group of Olson, Neal Casal and Danny Frankel, this is a wide-eyed, uplifting album with soaring, ethereal harmonies contributed by Ringvold.
The opening track, "Little Bird of Freedom" sets the tone of the album: these are songs by a man who has made it through the eye of the tempest and is looking at the world as if he's seeing it for the first time. Elsewhere Many Colored Kite's airy, uncluttered songs celebrate life and nature ("Wind and Rain," "Morning Dove") and love ("Bluebell Song" and "No Time to Live Without Her," featuring renowned folk legend Vashti Bunyan).
Track Listing:
Little Bird Of Freedom
Morning Dove
Many Colored Kite
Bluebell Song
Beehive
No Time To Live Without Her
Your Life Beside Us
Scholastica
Kingsnake
Wind & Rain
More Hours
MARK OLSON SUMMER/FALL 2010 U.S. TOUR DATES
08/27 Los Angeles, CA McCabe's Guitar Shop
09/07 San Francisco, CA Cafι du Nord
09/09 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
09/10 Seattle, WA The Triple Door
09/11 Bellingham, WA Green Frog Cafι Acoustic Tavern
09/12 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
09/14 Duluth, MN Pizza Luce
09/15 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
09/16 Milwaukee, WI Club Garibaldi
09/17 Chicago, IL Schuba's
09/18 Louisville, KY The Rudyard Kipling
09/19 St. Louis, MO The Old Rock House
09/21 Easton, MD Nightcat
09/22 Philadelphia, PA World Cafι Live
09/23 Vienna, VA Jammin' Java
09/24 New York, NY Joe's Pub
09/25 Northampton, MA Iron Horse Music Hall
09/26 Cambridge, MA Club Passim
09/27 Portland, ME Online Longfellow Square
09/28 Ithaca, NY Wildfire Lounge
09/29 Brooklyn, NY The Rock Shop
