Lineup
Gary Louris (The Jayhawks) founding member
Marc Perlman (The Jayhawks) founding member
Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum) founding member
Kraig Johnson (Run Westy Run, formerly of The Jayhawks) founding member
Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) joined in 1994
Drummers have included: Dave Pirner, Chris Mars, Noah Levy, Jody Stephens, Steve Gorman, Linda Pitmon, Sim Cain, Greg Wieczorek (G Wiz), Tim O'Reagan, Peter Anderson
Digital properties
Instagram @goldensmogmpls
Twitter (X) @golden_smog
History
Management / Press contact
Booking Agent
Frank Riley at High Road Touring frank@highroadtouring.com
Discography
1992 - On Golden Smog EP INFO
1995 - Down By The Old Mainstream INFO
1998 - Weird Tales INFO
2006 - Another Fine Day INFO
2007 - Blood on the Slacks INFO
2009 - Stay Golden, Smog: The Best Of Golden Smog - The Rykodisc Years INFO
Bio January 2026
The exact origins of Golden Smog are lost in the hazy backwaters of the late 1980s Minnesota music scene. Initially a loose-knit outfit featuring members of notable Twin Cities bands like The Jayhawks, The Replacements, Soul Asylum and Run Westy Run, early Golden Smog wasn't much more than a jokey cover band side project that played off the radar shows, often with little advance notice. After a few years of a sporadic existence in Minnesota with shifting lineups and band names, things eventually solidified around “Golden Smog” (borrowed from the 1960s animated series The Flintstones) with a core lineup of Gary Louris and Marc Perlman from The Jayhawks, Dan Murphy from Soul Asylum and Kraig Johnson from Run Westy Run. Golden Smog's recorded debut, the On Golden Smog EP, was released in 1992 on a tiny Twin Cities label. Containing all covers, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, this EP reflected the band's penchant for puns and humor, and came complete with fake band member identities and wacky cover art from drummer Chris Mars (one of his first published works; he's now a very successful visual artist).
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy first started working with the Minnesota Smoggers in 1994 during the interim between Uncle Tupelo and Wilco. With Tweedy now on board, the next two Smog releases, Down By the Old Mainstream (1996) and Weird Tales (1998), put Golden Smog on the map in a big way, featuring first rate original songs and inspired performances, aided by drummers Noah Levy and Jody Stephens, and violinist Jessy Greene. Often labeled as "Americana," these two landmark albums encompassed an impressive array of sounds and styles. The band's live shows during this period were always thrilling, fueled by a mixture of top notch playing and undeniable band chemistry.
It would be 10 years before the next Golden Smog album, Another Fine Day (2006), a sprawling, adventurous work of art that remains a true lost masterpiece. A mini-album of Another Fine Day leftovers came the following year; a greatest hits album was released in 2009.
Golden Smog live shows, and especially tours, have always been something of a rarity given all of the conflicting schedules. The last full length tour was in 2006 (without Tweedy, although he did join in when the tour came to Chicago) followed by a handful of one off and benefits shows in the ensuing years. After several years of inactivity, The Smog surprised everyone in July 2019 with a late night, stealthy, full blown show in a basement event space in Minneapolis' St. Anthony Main neighborhood, just hours after The Jayhawks had headlined a festival across the river. The lineup for this show was Louris, Murphy, Johnson, Perlman and Noah Levy, the Smog drummer from 1994-1996. The ostensible purpose for this this semi-private show was to celebrate Dan Murphy's birthday. Things fell into place naturally, the band sounded great and a good time was had by all.
In April 2022, Golden Smog performed two extremely sold out shows at the vaunted First Avenue club in Minneapolis. These shows originally were scheduled for April 2020 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club, but the pandemic forced a 2 year postponement. The core 4 members of Gary Louris, Kraig Johnson, Dan Murphy and Marc Perlman were joined for these shows by Jeff Tweedy (who was not originally scheduled to play in 2020), Jody Stephens and Jessy Greene, effectively recreating the lineup from the Weird Tales era.
2023 and 2024 saw three more Golden Smog shows, none with Tweedy. Two of these were opening slots for The Jayhawks annual holiday shows in the Twin Cities: a stripped down, drummer-less “acoustic” presentation in 2022, followed by a full electric set in 2023 with recent Minneapolis arrival Steve Gorman (Black Crowes) manning the drums, the latest in a long line of Golden Smog drummers dating back to Dave Pirner. In November 2024, the Smog played a one off headlining show at First Avenue, their 14th appearance on that legendary stage in a run that started back in 1992.
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