Over the past two decades, the alternative-folk band Cowboy Junkies have received international acclaim and gained a cult following for their introspective lyricism. Additionally, they are experts at stitching different genres together — from blues to country folk to rock and jazz — into a patchwork quilt of their own design, which has resulted in an equally as acclaimed haunting sound.
To commemorate the group’s 40th anniversary, The Cowboy Junkies will bring their unique combination of blues, country folk, rock and jazz to the Jefferson Theatre on April 15th and 16th. The band will perform music from each of their albums, celebrating new projects while still playing plenty of fan favorites and paying homage to their classic sound.
Consisting of perfectly layered instrumentals, stripped down arrangements and lead singer Margo Timmins’ angelically spellbinding voice, their records have a reputation for captivating audiences. Michael Timmins, guitarist and primary songwriter for the Cowboy Junkies, acknowledged the power in their simple production style.
“We've recognized that the core of our sound is the space within it,” said Timmins. “We're always aware of that — I'm not filling that up unless there's a real reason to fill it up.”
Their iconic whispery sound emerged out of the group’s garage band beginnings in Toronto, Canada as a necessary adaptation to the noise complaints they were receiving from neighbors during rehearsals. The band, composed of siblings Michael, Peter and Margo Timmins, alongside longtime friend Alan Anton, quickly realized that the quieter they played, the more they could highlight Margo’s whispery, lullaby-like voice.
To replicate the intimate sound that they were producing in their garage jam sessions, the group worked with producer Peter Moore to record their first album. The 1986 “Whites Off Earth Now!!” was recorded using a single ambisonic microphone, right in their own garage with the auditory control system rigged up in the kitchen. The group decided to release their debut on their own indie label Latent Recordings, continuing on the path to self-made success.
“We were very aware of the DIY, independent label scene, so when it came time for us to record, we weren't waiting around for another label to sign us,” Timmins said. “We just decided, well, we know how to do this. We can do this ourselves. So we did.”
“Whites Off Earth Now!!” sold four thousand copies on their own label and is a feat in its own right, revealing the band’s ability to make covers uniquely their own. However, it was the Cowboy Junkies’ second album, the 1988 “The Trinity Session” — a beautiful 12-track mix of covers and original songs — that skyrocketed them into the spotlight.
“There was a lot of commotion around ‘The Trinity Session,’ and we got signed to the RCA on that record. Then we got asked to play on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Timmins said. “It really introduced us to a huge audience in literally a few minutes.”
“The Trinity Session” was recorded almost entirely in a single day inside Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity, with the musicians circled around a single microphone, after obtaining permission to use the church by telling officials they were recording a family Christmas special.
The acoustics of the church and limited production used in “The Trinity Session” finalized the signature intimate sound that the Cowboy Junkies have become known for. The feelings of warmth and closeness that their music elicits are heightened by the relationships and chemistry of the band itself.
“We grew up listening to the same records and liking the same bands, so I think we have a shared musical history, a shared musical appreciation,” Timmins said. “It's easy for us to find a common ground when we're working on new material, as we appreciate the same things in a sound or a song.”
For the Cowboy Junkies, inspiration comes from unexpected places. While touring the southern United States for “Whites Off Earth Now!!,” the band was introduced to 70s-era country music — Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson — by people they met on the road and stayed with overnight to save gas money for the tour bus.
“A lot of people would have those types of records in their collections, so we started listening to them and appreciating the instrumentation and the song structures,” Timmins said.
Their country influence can be seen throughout the rest of “The Trinity Session,” from the twangy guitar on “Misguided Angel” to the cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” However, the Cowboy Junkies got their name way before country found its way into their sound, and before they had released any music, when a Toronto club owner would not let them play their first gig unless they came up with a name for the band.
“We all liked it because it didn't mean anything at the time. It's provocative without being obviously provocative,” Timmins said. “There's something odd about it, but at the time, it didn't seem to define anything. So we liked it, and we went with it. And in a weird way, it sort of defines us.”
Timmins also looks outward for inspiration while writing for the Cowboy Junkies, touching on themes such as xenophobia and political turmoil in songs like “The Things We Do To Each Other” and “Sing Me a Song,” both off of their 2018 album “All That Reckoning”.
“These last few years have been particularly crazy, as far as you know, society goes,” said Timmins. “You know, the political and the personal sort of enter into the songs a lot and mix together. That's a part of it too.”
As the band has evolved over the past 40 years, their lyrics have evolved alongside them. Their latest album, “Such Ferocious Beauty,” perfectly showcases the way the Cowboy Junkies have grown and changed. The group couples the intense vulnerability of their sound with emotional lyrics, exploring their struggle with their father’s dementia and addressing the grief that naturally accompanies age. The raw openness in sound and verse captivated audiences in the same way the band did back in 1988.
“I don't write about the same things I did when I was 25. I’m 65 now — that's the big difference, and maybe one of the reasons why we're able to keep our audience,” Timmins said. “We're not pretending that we're a 25-year-old band.”
The band will make a stop at the Jefferson Theater on April 15 and 16 — with the April 16 show added after the first one quickly sold out — to celebrate the past forty years. They do not have an opening act. Instead, they perform two sets — beginning with a shorter set dedicated to their new music, and finishing with a longer set where they dig deep into their expansive catalog and make an effort to pull songs from every album, hitting on all the fan favorites.
The four incredibly successful decades of the Cowboy Junkies are a testament to the power that comes from doing things your own way and embracing change, rather than running from it.
“As people who have been playing music together that long, it's pretty special,” Timmins said.
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