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Cowboy Junkies: The Family Plan |
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Written by Glenn BurnSilver
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Thursday, 19 July 2007 |
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 The Cowboy Junkies have never been an exactly bright and sunny band. Their debut album, “The Trinity Sessions,” was recorded in one day in the old Trinity Church in Toronto. Full of sweeping, at times haunting, melodies behind Margo Timmons’ hushed vocals, Michael Timmons’ minor-key-blues- meets-avant-garde rhythmic guitar work, Peter Timmons’ less-is-more drumming and Alan Anton’s moody bass, the Junkies quietly slipped in from a shadowy edge, a film noir soundtrack for the everyday person. Over the years, that sound has solidified — brightened at times by lead guitar and accordions, strings and keys — but always underneath lurks a darker edge.
“There is tension in all our songs, and I think people miss that sometimes in the lyrics. You get the sense that something is not right here, it’s not all rosy and bright, but there are dark spots too,” Michael Timmons said during a phone interview from his Toronto home. “I really like the juxtaposition of the calmness and gentleness of Margo’s voice and then the bringing it all tumbling down with a guitar shakedown. It emphasizes or points to the tension.”
“At the End of Paths Taken,” the Junkies most recent album, is no different. There are some musical bright spots with strings and choir, a little mandolin and acoustic melodies, but what begins as a happy experiment to focus on a theme of family gradually gives way to the darker realities of the world today and how that could impact future generations.
“As I was doing that the general world began to creep into it,” he said. “That affects your relationships with you kids as well, how you see them and you see their future.”
Though Peter and Margo are his brother and sister, Timmons focused more on the up and down relationships of family, like father to son to son and the way one generation affects the next. An album highlight then is “Mountain,” which features their father reading a passage from a book.
With added thunder and other effects, Margo’s determined singing and some powerful, fuzzy guitar work, “Mountain,” may have perfectly captured what Timmons originally set out to do with a family-themed album.
“It was pretty intense. When we came up with the idea of doing this sound collage, the final piece was adding him to it,” he said. “He came down to the studio and it was pretty moving, especially considering the theme of the record was all about family and that a lot of the songs are all about him. It was a really nice touch for us and it made sense for the song and for the whole record.”
But did the record capture the original intention?
“I’m very proud of this record from many angles,” he said, “but you can’t really ever define these things. You try your best to get a sense them and hope other people will connect with them.”
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IT'S THE MUSIC NOT THE MAN
It’s not often a guitarist sits while playing on stage. Maybe a singer-songwriter will be on a stool, but a straight-backed chair? That’s how the Cowboy Junkies Michael Timmons plays. It comes from his earliest days an experimental prog guitarist in Jerminal.
“It was more about creating music. The focus was on the music. It was comfortable and I felt I really only had to give the audience my best music,” he said, then added with a laugh, “I didn’t think standing up and walking across the stage was going to add anything.”
Glenn BurnSilver
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TO GO TO THE SHOW
Cowboy Junkies with Roe
8 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show
Monday, June 23
Aggie Theatre
204 S. College Ave, Fort Collins
482.8300
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