They always made it sound so easy.

At their best back in the nineties, the Jayhawks had this sweet, mellow sort of vibe about them that made it seem like they could do it in their sleep. On albums like Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass, this great band blended elements of alt-country, folk, and Americana styles for a sound so familiar, you'd swear you'd been hearing the songs your entire life. Musically, the Jayhawks picked up the great lineage of artists like Dylan, The Band, and Neil Young and wore it on their sleeves like a proud, old coat.

On Vagabonds, Gary Louris' first solo album since the Jayhawks disbanded, he picks things up right where those great nineties albums left off. Not that this is strictly a Jayhawks type of alt-country picnic. Louris also expands on the sound of his great former band, to incorporate elements of blues, gospel, and even a dash of psychedelia into the mix here.

Having Black Crowes vocalist and longtime fan Chris Robinson produce the album (the two bands toured together back around the time of the Crowes' second disc The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion), wasn't a bad idea either. Robinson wisely "under-produces" here, leaving things well enough alone so that this album avoids the occasionally over-produced quality of latter Jayhawks albums like the Bob Ezrin produced Smile.

Many of the songs here also feature backing vocals by a loose amalgamation of backup singers deemed the Laurel Canyon Family Choir, including The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs, Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis, and Robinson himself. On a couple of the tracks here, the Family Choir manages to kick up quite a noise too.

On "To Die A Happy Man," Louris starts off quietly and somberly reflecting on a lover, revolving the sweet, understated melody around the repeated line "so beautiful, so beautiful." By the end of the song, it builds to a gorgeous, raucous gospel crescendo. You can clearly hear Robinson in the middle of it all, caught up in the musical rapture. Again, on "We'll Get By," the voices here get lifted high into the heavens, this time repeating the line "we'll get by, but we don't know how."