Canadian alt-country pioneers Cowboy Junkies will return to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in 20 years in May 2020.
Cowboy Junkies inadvertently started a revolution when they appeared in the late ‘80s. The Trinity Session, 1988, featured the band’s cover of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Sweet Jane’, and combined folk, country, blues and rock in a way that had never been heard before. It went on to sell more than a million copies but its influence was broader and deeper. The album had been recorded in a church with the group performing around a single microphone.
Over subsequent albums the group helped introduce its audience to the work of seminal singer-writers including both Townes Van Zandt and John Prine, and their cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘State Trooper’ helped introduce him to the alternative world.
Last year’s All That Reckoning confirmed their status; in a 5-star review Mojo Magazine said the album was “equal parts tenderness and edge, sensual and beautifully disturbing”, while The Associated Press said that “All That Reckoning shows Cowboy Junkies in peak form, adding another inspired, alluring album to their repertoire.” NPR called it “as vital as anything they’ve done.”
Formed in Toronto in 1985 with siblings Michael Timmins on guitar, Margo Timmins on vocals, Peter Timmins on drums, and Michael’s lifelong friend Alan Anton on bass, the band has never had a break up or taken a hiatus. It’s never even endured a line-up change. Their May 2020 tour of Australian and New Zealand will be one the undoubted highlights of the musical year.
TOUR DATES
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE – Wednesday May 6
ADELAIDE – THE GOV – Friday May 8
PERTH – ASTOR THEATRE – Sunday May 10
SYDNEY – ENMORE THEATRE –Wednesday May 13
BRISBANE – TIVOLI THEATRE – Saturday May 16
ON SALE Friday August 9 10am
http://davidroywilliams.com/tours/cowboyjunkies/