Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Olson's solo style is pitched midway between Dylan and the laconic whine of Robyn Hitchcock, with subtle shades of dobro, mandolin and steel..." Dirty Linen - "His itinerary is largely poetic and transformational....Olson has managed to contemporize his indie style nicely."

Rovi

It seems odd that Salvation Blues is Mark Olson's first true solo recording. After his tenure with the Jayhawks, Olson left the band to spend more time in Joshua Tree with his then-wife, fellow singer/songwriter Victoria Williams. Olson released a quartet of recordings with the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers (aka the Creekdippers), always with Williams either sharing the billing or in the band. Olson and Williams divorced in February of 2006, and he lost the home he built in Joshua Tree as a result. He took off on a solo tour of Europe where the sketches for a number of the songs on Salvation Blues were written. Produced by Ben Vaughn and released on the aesthetically brilliant HackTone label, the CD contains 11 songs; the first edition of the CD comes in a small, book-shaped digipack with slipcover and notes, lyrics, and photographs by Ingunn Ringvold and Krissie Gregory. Former bandmate Gary Louris co-wrote "Poor Michael's Boat" and "National Express," and Williams co-wrote "Winter Song." Sonically, Salvation Blues is pristine if simple. Vaughn keeps things uncluttered and clean, allowing just enough of a mix for Olson's beautifully impure voice to rise to the top unfettered. Musically, while Olson's been following his muse -- that weds country-rock, folk, and other American roots forms -- since the very beginning of his long career, there are few surprises in composition. His sidemen on this session include the great, undercelebrated guitarist Tony Gilkyson, pedal steel and dobro boss Greg Leisz, bassist David J. Carpenter, Michele Gazich on violin, Zac Rae on keyboards, drummer Kevin Jarvis, with Ringvold playing acoustic guitar and Louris and Cindy Wasserman contributing backing vocals.
Ultimately, it comes down to the songs, though. And Mark Olson has them here in spades. with the presentation being so utterly simple, a lot of weight rests not only on the singer, but on the lyrics and melody. And Olson delivers, though the often shining optimism of his offerings has been tempered in places by grief, loss, and the workaday living of everyday life that blends dream and reality as time rushes forward; still he champions humble human nobility in choosing life over death each and every morning. It's a choice for Olson's protagonists, and it needs to be made each and every day without forgetting -- to forget is to choose one of them anyway. "My Carol" opens the set brightly enough. It's a country waltz that could have been written by the Bob Dylan who gave us the words to "Love Minus Zero/No Limit": "I have come to fetch my Carol/I have wandered in the muck/Dirty sheets outside the windows/Lies that poor folks never tell rich ones/Louder still is the sound of love....I know the beauty of her song/The blood of priests runs in her veins...My love for her is a speckled bird/An animal bleeding in the snow/Slink back under the fallen step/Of black rites and crooked sticks/Unforeseen victims of modern sin/I walk the dark rain and then no more/Daylight rings the bells of joy." The guitars entwine and ring gentle together, the beat slips and shimmers, and Olson delivers his words so easily, as if his observations were plainly seen by everyone -- yet held in secret.
On the very next cut, "Clinton Bridge," that optimism gets pushed further, though it takes into account the weight of the decision. A lone acoustic guitar acts as the spine for his vocal before the band enters. While they shore up the body of the tune: "I woke before the sun/Which is the way between the heart and the soul/You spoke with my words/Tangled up here inside/Some people came here to die/We came here to live..." Gazich's violin takes the instrumental break and brings the tune to near soaring levels, but the singer is repeating that refrain for a reason, it's conviction tested by tragedy. The gorgeous harmonies of the Jayhawks are brought to mind on "Poor Michael's Boat," as Olson and Gary Louris sound together on the refrains. Their voices seem earthy a

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