There are certain bands that just grabbed my attention the first time I heard them. The Cowboy Junkies have done that twice. The first was their beautiful spooky version of the Velvet Underground classic “Sweet Jane” that appeared in the otherwise tedious Natural Born Killers. Margo Timmins’ ethereal voice floating above the music was stunning and perfect for that particular scene. I didn’t know who the band was, only that it was the best part of the film.
I heard them again in the late ’90s when “Common Disaster” started getting play on KGSR. This time it was Michael Timmins’ guitar that hooked me. I love the gently distorted riff that shimmers in the background, fading away behind sister Margo’s haunting voice. That time I caught the name and bought the album, Lay It Down.
Trying to describe the Cowboy Junkies sound is difficult; there are many influences that converge creating an uncanny mixture of blues, country, low-fi alt rock, and folk. The end result is a quiet intensity and interplay between Margo’s vocals and Michael’s guitar.
I had no idea what to expect at last night’s show at One World Theatre in Bee Caves. I imagined that the show would be mainly Margo with her brothers backing her up, but what I heard went far beyond what I expected. The focus of the music moved back and forth from Margo’s vocals to Michael’s dynamic guitar work. I knew she would sound great, taking the audience on a journey of “heartbreak and misery” as she jokingly referred to the band’s music at one point.
I was surprised and pleased with how much of the show was dedicated to the musicians. I love listening to quiet, gently ebbing and well-controlled guitar feedback and Michael Timmins is very good at this. He can of course bang out rockin’ and bluesy solos, but creating and controlling noise in such a way that it adds to the color and overall feel of the song, surrounding it and giving it shape is something I love to hear live. The overall effect of the show was a feeling of being in a smoky lounge late in the night of a David Lynch film.
The set was a mix of old and new. They played several tunes from their latest album Early 21st Century Blues, a collection mainly of covers from influences such as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. A favorite moment of mine came when singing “Miles from Our Home” one of their hits, if the Junkies can be said to really have hits, Margo seemed to forget the words and had to refer back to a notebook. She kept going but with a wonderfully sheepish smile and a wink to the audience.
They ended their set with the closing track from the new album, a beautiful rendition of U2’s “One” an amazing song that takes me back to my Dallas year, cruising the plastic nightime highways with airplanes swarming over DFW like robot fireflies. It’s a song that has always filled me with a sense of melancholy and yet at the same time hope. It seemed perfect to hear the Junkies play it and was a great end to a captivating set.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
Oh wow, I’m jealous.
[…] Waltz Across America appears for the second week in a row. It’s a cool little CD that we picked up when we saw them last year. Margo Timmins even signed it for […]