Co-founding member of The Jayhawks, Mark Olson emerges with a new album that distills the essence of his gifts down to the elements of heartfelt performance inspiring lyrics, and a pure melodic core.
Many Colored Kite is the follow-up to his 2007 personal milestone Salvation Blues, a soul-searching album of loss and change that further cemented Olson’s reputation as one of the true heroes of the folk/roots scene. The album was a New York Times Critics pick and received rave reviews for its autobiographical, often painful songs. It’s a hopeful Olson that greets the listener on Many Colored Kite, with its earthy, neo-folk feel that encompasses classic and ‘60s British folk as well as the ‘desert country’ he’s been associated with in the past.
The opening track, ‘Little Bird of Freedom’ (with backing vocals by Jolie Holland), sets the tone of the album: these are songs by a man who’s 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 (‘Blue Bell’, ‘No Time to Live Without Her’ featuring Vashti Bunyan). Produced, mixed 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 Ingunn Ringvold.

Many Coloured Kite is the follow-up to his 2007 personal milestone and Diverse Records release, Salvation Blues, a soul-searching album of loss and change that further cemented Olson’s reputation as one of the true heroes of the folk/roots scene.