Cowboy Junkies

Born in Toronto in the mid-1980s, Cowboy Junkies bring together vocalist Margo Timmins, her brothers Michael and Peter Timmins, and Alan Anton in a lineup that has remained remarkably stable over the decades. The band first drew attention with Whites Off Earth Now!! (1986) and then with The Trinity Session (1988), recorded in Toronto’s Holy Trinity Church — an album that defined the core elements of their aesthetic: slow tempos, spare arrangements, and a subtle tension between folk rock, alt-country, blues, and americana. Around Michael Timmins’ songwriting and Margo Timmins’ restrained voice, Cowboy Junkies developed a restrained, contemplative and often nocturnal music in which covers and original songs share the same hushed tone. The group later broadened its palette with albums such as The Caution Horses (1990), Black Eyed Man (1992), Lay It Down (1996), Open (2001) and All That Reckoning (2018), without abandoning that identity. Their recent discography also includes Ghosts (2020), Songs of the Recollection (2022) and Such Ferocious Beauty (2023). A regular presence on North American and European tours, Cowboy Junkies have also collaborated with guests like Jeff Bird — present across much of their career — as well as Natalie Merchant, Vic Chesnutt and Ryan Adams on Trinity Revisited (2007).