Forty years after they first began blending folk, blues, country and rock into their own quiet, atmospheric style, Canadian band Cowboy Junkies are set to perform at the Jeanne Rimsky Theater on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m., bringing with them a career’s worth of music and a sound that has remained uniquely their own.
The group, siblings Michael, Margo and Peter Timmins, along with bassist Alan Anton, formed in Toronto in 1985. They made their breakthrough with 1988’s The Trinity Session, a minimalist, hushed album recorded in a single day at Toronto’s Church of the Holy Trinity. In an era dominated by flashy production and loud rock anthems, its quiet intimacy stood out. The record sold more than a million copies and became a touchstone for listeners seeking something reflective and deeply felt.
“The Trinity Session was like a whisper that cut through the noise,” Michael Timmins, the band’s guitarist and principal songwriter, said. “It was compelling because it was different. It came from a place that combined folk, blues, and rock in a way that hadn’t been heard before.”
Timmins describes the band’s sound as a melting pot of roots influences.
“We sort of borrow from a lot of roots music — blues, folk, country — and sprinkle in a little psychedelia. There’s even a bit of jazz influence in there,” he said. “It all filters through our abilities and our experience, and it comes out in Cowboy Junkies.”
Despite their longevity, the lineup has never changed, a rarity for any band with decades on the road. Timmins has known Anton, the bassist, longer than his own younger brother Peter. Their bond, along with that of the Timmins siblings, has kept the band grounded.
“Communication, that sounds kind of boring, but it’s true,” Timmins said when asked about the key to keeping the group together. “We’re very aware of making sure we’re always talking to each other about what we want to do, what’s working for each of us, and how it fits into our lives outside the band.”
He noted that as members got older, married and started families, they adapted their touring schedules to avoid burnout, a decision he believes has kept them going.
“Touring is the big thing that breaks up bands,” he said. “Every few years we reassess how we’re approaching it and make sure everybody’s still keen with it.”
There was only one extended break in the band’s history, a yearlong pause decades ago.
“We’ve never had a big blow-up or somebody storming out,” Timmins said. “We just took a bit of a rest and came back to it.”
The group’s roots go back even further than its founding. Michael and Anton played together in earlier bands before recruiting Margo as the vocalist and Peter on drums. An older brother, John, was briefly part of the original lineup but left early on, preferring to avoid life on the road.
Since 1985, Cowboy Junkies have released 29 albums, maintaining a slow, steady creative output rather than chasing trends. Their most recent release, “Such Ferocious Beauty,” came out in 2023 to critical acclaim.
Timmins says the live experience is what keeps their music fresh.
“Every live show is a new experience, a new audience, a new night, everyone feeling a little bit different,” he said. “You’re trying to recapture that transfer of energy between band and audience. When you get it, it’s an amazing feeling.”
While the booking agent brought the band to Port Washington this year, the Cowboy Junkies are no strangers to New York stages, having performed across the state many times over their career.
For Timmins, the goal for audiences hasn’t changed since the beginning. “I want them to experience the same thing I do when I walk out of a show,” he said. “Inspired, happy, your body vibrating, something stirred in your imagination. You want people to walk out thinking it was a great way to spend two hours, worth the money, and it gives you a little lift for the next few days.”
According to Timmins, the Cowboy Junkies’ show at the Jeanne Rimsky Theater promises an evening that reflects both their history and their continued evolution, music that has quietly endured for four decades without ever losing its focus.
For tickets and more information, visit landmarkonmainstreet.org.
