Celebrating the Cowboy Junkies

Music has a way of burrowing into my psyche. I don’t know if everyone is wired this way or whether it’s my own peculiar emotional telemetry. I wanted to celebrate the Cowboy Junkies and to me that means celebrating their landmark album, The Trinity Sessions.  Nearly 53 minutes of musical bliss was recorded in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto using a single mic back in 1987. The result is a captivating album that contributed to my knowledge of music, past and present. It was the ultimate simple gift that soothed my soul.

When The Trinity Sessions was released, I was a brand-new mother for the first time. It’s been nearly three dozen years since the birth of my son and nearly that for the anniversary of this record. As a young working mom, I didn’t have the energy or time to go out to shows so all I could do was watch MTV, read music mags, and listen to the radio to get an idea of what was going on beyond my suburban home.  Somehow, The Trinity Sessions came into my consciousness, and I got a copy.

I was transfixed.

To be totally honest, I have been sketching out a series of pieces (with song links) to share with my children—to show them my evolution as a fan of popular music.  But the Cowboy Junkies impact came many years after I had started to enlarge my music world. But the timing seems right to expound upon what makes this album so good.  No holds barred.  This album has a purity that most albums don’t.  It has staying power and nearly 36 years after its birthday, it’s as powerful now as it was then.  Siblings Margo, Michael and Peter Timmons created the group in 1985 along with Alan Anton.  The band has never broken up but it’s evolved and has brought great joy to their fans for going on 40 years.

“Mining for Gold” is a haunting acapella song; Margo’s stunning vocals punctuate raw emotions in a clear and crystalline way that moves the music into a sorrowful abyss.  The fear and the hopelessness of being diagnosed with silicosis, an industrial lung disease that plagues miners, is ever present. That sadness permeates a lot of this album. 

“Misguided Angel” continues in the same vein. It’s a love song with a dark streak. Is it just a song about a girl who falls in love with a guy from the wrong side of the tracks or is it more? There’s a lot that can be said and has been said. I’ll leave it up to the listener to decide.

 “Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)” pays homage to the influence that Elvis Presley had on Michael Timmins and the rest of the band. The soulful solo guitar part is a highlight. Elvis lives.

Other stellar moments on The Trinity Sessions include a plaintive rendition of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Williams. Margo’s vocals once again pack a big punch. The quiet instrumentation behind her, especially the steel guitar, provides the perfect ingredient in this rendition. Hank would approve.

Much to my surprise, after reading the notes about the album, I discovered that “Working on a Building” is a traditional song attributed to Bill Monroe from the 1950s.  Alan Anton holds down the bass and deserves a shout-out here.

Finally, I’ll give a nod to yet another cover song on the album—“Sweet Jane.”  Most music fans know this song via Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground.  The Cowboy Junkies transform this song into a totally different experience. The driving guitar and bass utterly sets the scene and Margo lets loose with a knowing and direct approach. The song on this recording lacks the Lou swagger and that’s all right by me.  On later live versions, I detect a bit more of a streetwise attitude and that’s fine too. That’s what is so much fun about following bands like the Cowboy Junkies. They persist and they grow. They were a Canadian Americana band before Americana was a thing. Word to the wise: listen to the Cowboy Junkies. It may change your life.

The Cowboy Junkies are appearing at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, MA on Sunday, February 18.