Saw the Cowboy Junkies last night, and I just had to rave. I've always suspected they were great live, so I was expecting a great show. They exceeded my expectations. The word that keeps popping into my head is integrity. They're just the real thing, a collection of great individual musicians who know what it means to be a group. And they're such professionals. Not a note was wasted, and the performance was nearly flawless, but at the same time, the music had a deep soulfulness and sense of committment to the songs. What a great band. I highly recommend catching them live.

I've heard of them. They were in the music news recently. I don't know a lot of their songs, maybe I should check them out on You Tube. I hear they're very good.

Hi Greg,
I hope you got to meet Margo Timmins after the show. She usually does a meet & greet about 10-15 minutes after the show is over.
I've had the great honor and pleasure of seeing Cowboy Junkies 5 times over the years. They are my favorite small, independent band. I champion what they do because they are regular people who happen to be artistic.
If you allow yourself to be thrown into their music, the rewards are most definitely there. If you attempt to detach yourself during a show of theirs, you will lose the power that wells up from the different subject matters they bring up. The human condition is their specialty.

Agreed, who else could pull off "Murder Tonight, In the Trailer Park"?

Margo Timmins is magnificent. I especially liked the power that started creeping into her voice about the time of the "Pale Sun Crescent Moon album. Critics commented that it was like she started taking vitamins....

One CJ show in particular stands out for me - it was around early '96 at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. What a magical combo - the U of M student presence really seemed to propel Margo, and she was very communicative during and after the show.

I think "Lost My Driving Wheel" is my fave Margo perfrormance.

I wanted to wait around and talk to Margo afterwards -- she even issued an invitation before the last song -- but we had a babysitter waiting, and besides, I never know what to say besides "I'm a big fan!" Besides, gushing over another woman with my wife at my side would be bad form, no? What a lovely woman.

ET Girl -- If you want some suggestions about where to start, I'd be happy to make them, as would the other folks here. It actually might be best to start with a live show. That would probably make you a fan, assuming you have a pulse. Actually, I'm sure there are lots of people who don't care for them -- their music is dark and moody, and tends to be slow and repetitive, but in a good way. It rarely grabs you hard, but kind of slowly works it's way into your head.

Start with the album which all roads, past and present as it concerns Cowboy Junkies, run through and pick up The Trinity Session. They captured lightning in a bottle with that album and it is the one from which their reputation grew from.

Trinity First, Caution Horses 2nd.

Depends what you like. I think they've slowly developed into a different band. The early albums like Trinity and Caution Horses are much more folk and country based than the newer ones. Starting with Pale Sun, Crescent Moon, they got a harder edge. Michael Timmins started playing more edgy, distorted guitar, and Margo's voice acquired some urgency that wasn't often there earlier. Trinity Sessions is a great place to start, but Lay It Down is a great album and kind of a blueprint for their current sound.

I prefer the songwriting on the early albums. I agree the performances are excellent on all.