Cowboy Junkies revisit old material
- Place:Kent Stage
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175 E. Main St., Kent, OH
By John Benson
In talking to Cowboy Junkies guitarist Michael Timmins, it appears as though there is nothing more enjoyable than road-testing material for the band’s next studio effort.
However, in attempting to explain a few new songs — “Angels in the Wilderness,” “The Confession of Georgie E” and “Fairytale” – that may get stage time at the Canadian band’s Friday show at the Kent Stage, Timmins kind of gets lost. This appears to be half the fun.
“It’s kind of changing almost night to night in a weird way,” said Timmins, calling from Toronto, Canada. “We sort of latch onto an idea and try it for a few nights and then say, ‘OK, let’s try something else and do that.’ So I don’t know; they’re kind of evolving, and it’s hard to describe what they’re going to sound like tomorrow.”
In a nutshell, this defines the mindset and sound of the Cowboy Junkies’ career, which began in the late ’80s and quickly enjoyed success with its platinum-selling sophomore effort “The Trinity Sessions.” While many studio efforts have followed over the years, it’s this album, which features a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane,” that has somewhat defined the band.
Instead of running away from its past, the band — Timmins and siblings Margo Timmins (vocals) and Peter Timmins (drums), along with Alan Anton (bass) — returned to the material a few years ago to re-record the album along with help from some high-profile friends. Joining the Cowboy Junkies in Toronto’s Church of the Holy Trinity, the same venue the album was originally recorded in 1988, was Ryan Adams, Natalie Merchant and Vic Chesnutt. The project was recorded for 2007’s “Trinity Sessions Revisited” and an accompanying DVD release.
For Timmins, the experience was surreal and eye-opening.
“As we were recording and playing, they were telling their stories about the record and what these songs were about to them,” Timmins said. “So that was kind of fun to give us a new perspective of having Natalie sing ‘To Love is to Bury’ and Ryan sing ‘200 More Miles,’ and Vic sing ‘Postcard Blues.’ In a sense they were covering the songs, and in a weird way I think we had a better appreciation for the original songs on that record than we did in the past.”
In case you can’t sense Timmins’ laidback nature, it becomes quite obvious when talking to him about the business or celebrity side of the Cowboy Junkies. At no point is this more evident than when discussing the “Sweet Jane” phenomenon that has followed the act for more than two decades.
Odds are when you mention the Cowboy Junkies to casual music fans, the only touchstone they’ll know will be the group’s version of “Sweet Jane.” This is despite the fact the act has released roughly a dozen albums and has been cited by many contemporary artists (Ryan Adams included) as a big influence.
So how does Timmins deal with this reality?
“It’s fine,” he laughed. “Obviously you want somebody to get a bit deeper and discover different layers, but that’s the way the business works. I mean, you have your song or your story, and people know it. And unless you really get into the band and want to discover a bit more, then that’s all there is.”
After pausing for a few seconds Timmins added, “At least there is something to hang a tag on.”