“Mesmerizing!” Cowboy Junkies LIVE! at the Grunin Center
By: Spotlight Central
Tags: Concerts, New Jersey, Music, Folk, Rock

By Spotlight Central. Photos by Love Imagery

Inside Toms River, NJ’s Grunin Center auditorium this Thursday, November 7, 2019, musical instruments can be observed on the stage — electric bass, drum set, electric guitars, mandolin, and lap steel guitar — each placed on a series of individual rugs, providing musicians and music lovers alike with a sense of space and order.

Amplifiers, microphone stands, trap cases, and speaker monitors are also strategically placed around the stage. Moreover, in the center of the space sits a tall chair with a vase of orange and yellow tulips and a mug of tea on a tall table, in addition to a vase of red roses standing on the floor.

And just who is this living room-like concert performance space set up for?

The internationally-known alternative country and folk-rock band — Cowboy Junkies.

Cowboy Junkies was formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 and consists of bassist Alan Anton in addition to a trio of siblings: Michael Timmins on guitar, Peter Timmins on drums, and Margo Timmins on lead vocals.

Alan Anton and Michael Timmins met in kindergarten and formed their first band in high school. In 1979, the duo created the group, Hunger Project, in Toronto but moved to New York City where they performed at a variety of clubs. Ultimately, the band embarked on a multi-city tour of the United States and eventually toured in the United Kingdom.

When Hunger Project disbanded, Anton and Timmins remained in London where they started an experimental improvisational group, Germinal, in which the intrumentalists simultaneously played whatever they wanted to on their instruments. They also developed their skills as musicians and expanded their knowledge of music history by incorporating the work of jazz artists like John Coltrane and Ornette Colemen and blues artists such as Robert Johnson and John Lee Hooker into their musical vocabulary.

The duo ultimately returned to Toronto where Anton and Michael Timmins rented a house, insulated the garage, and — with Michael’s younger brother Pete Timmins sitting in on drums — began exploring a new musical direction.

As they progressed, Michael Timmins eventually realized that a female voice was what the band’s sound needed and he invited his sister, Margo, to join the group. When the as-yet-unnamed band prepared for its first performance, the members considered a number of different names before settling on Cowboy Junkies.

Cowboy Junkies’ 1986 debut album was the blues-inspired Whites Off Earth Now!!, recorded in the family garage using a single microphone. The band gained wider recognition with their second album, The Trinity Session, which they recorded in 1987 at Toronto’s Church of the Holy Trinity. Again using a solitary microphone, the group’s sound — which mixed blues, country, folk, rock, and jazz — not only earned them the attention of music critics, but also garnered them a strong fan base.

Since then, Cowboy Junkies have gone on to record 16 studio albums — including their latest, All That Reckoning — in addition to creating five live albums and steadily touring around the world.

At the Grunin Center, the crowd applauds as band members Alan Anton, Michael Timmins, Peter Timmins and Margo Timmins — along with special guest musician Jeff Bird — take their places on stage.

Opening with the title song from their new album, All That Reckoning, vocalist Margo Timmins is spotlighted center stage, stunning in her black embroidered outfit which contrasts with her white hair.

Her soft resonant alto voice brimming with emotion, Margo sings, “I once slept with my arms around you/My legs once bound you/And I’d wake with my heart so full of you.”

Peter Timmins rolls his mallets over his cymbals making the percussive sound shimmer as Alan Anton provides solid support on bass.

Although the musicians are physically separated on stage, the sounds from their individual instruments blend and meld together into a unique sonic vibe.

The crowd responds with large applause and the group launches into “Sing Me a Song.” With its Spencer Davis “I’m a Man”-like feel, Margo Timmins tips her microphone stand as she sings, “Sing me a song about life in America/Sing me a song about love,” her soulful alto voice enveloping the audience. Jeff Bird surprises with an electrified mandolin solo, adding a space-age element to the number’s infectious groove.

Margo Timmins welcomes the crowd saying, “Well, here we are. We’re back doing what we always do. This first set is songs off the new album. The second set will be the old stuff,” prior to joking, “There will be a few old ones in the first set just so you don’t panic.”

Next up is a new song, “When We Arrive.”

With it’s catchy melody and spacey slow groove, Margo sings, “Welcome to the days of wine and roses/To the time of lost pursuits/New ideas taking root/Welcome, welcome,” before Jeff Bird’s twangy mandolin solo keeps the groove running smoothly.

Moving onto an older number, Cowboy Junkies perform 1990's “Cause Cheap is How I Feel.” Starting with Bird’s homespun harmonica, Peter Timmins’ drumming is precise on this country number, and Michael Timmins’ guitar solo hints at the sound of jazz guitarist John Scofield.

Margo’s vocal has a bit of a country legato feel which contrasts nicely with the twangy sound of the band playing behind her.

Peter Timmins uses brushes on his drums on “Dreaming My Dreams with You,” a song from The Trinity Session. With its pianissimo beginning, Margo’s voice is soft and gentle as she tells her dreamy story singing, “Someday I’ll get over you/I’ll live to see it all through/But I’ll always miss/Dreaming my dreams with you.”

Michael Timmins’ ethereal guitar accompanies her on this jazzy waltz and Jeff Bird makes the tone of his electrified mandolin sound like the “backwards” guitar solo from The Beatles’ “Taxman.”

Following “Missing Children” — a slow rocker which features an edgier and driving Margo Timmins’ vocal along with Michael Timmins’ distorted guitar sound — the group performs “Mountain Stream.” On this slow country waltz, Bird plays a slide steel lap guitar part that cries and whines as Anton’s bass and Michael Timmins’ guitar drone are accompanied by Peter Timmins’ shimmering cymbals.

After Margo says, “Thanks for listening to all the new material,” Cowboy Junkies conclude Act I with another song from All That Reckoning, “The Things We Do To Each Other.” On this instant soft-rock classic, Anton plays an ostinato bass part with his forefinger and Bird makes his electrified mandolin sound like a saxophone as Margo soulfully croons, “You can control hate/But only for so long/And when you lose control/Oh man/The things we do to each other.”

After intermission, the musicians retake the stage and open Act II with their 1996 rocker, “Common Disaster.” Following its simple bluesy vocal, Michael Timmins plays a distorted electric guitar solo.

Audience members clap when they recognize the intro to The Trinity Session’s “Sweet Jane.” Following its Buffalo Springfield-like “For All It’s Worth” intro, Margo Timmins sings, “Anyone who’s ever had a heart/Wouldn’t turn around and break it/And anyone who’s ever played a part/Wouldn’t turn around and hate it/Sweet Jane, sweet Jane.”

The band follows up with an extended jam which features Michael Timmins on guitar and Jeff Bird on mandolin playing near-simultaneous solos as Peter Timmins accompanies them with mallets on his drums.

The crowd responds with avid applause as the group launches into its 1992 composition, “Southern Rain.” On this rocker with a backbeat, Bird’s tambourine jangles while Margo Timmins’ smooth vocal floats out over the crowd and Michael Timmins plays a Beatles’ “Day Tripper”-like hook, the number ending sweetly and soulfully with just vocal and guitar.

Margo announces, “This is a very old song,” before joking, “It’s older than the band — which makes it ancient,” as bass, guitar, drums, and harmonica sparkle on the mysterious “Shining Moon.” Her voice sounding soulful and bluesy, Margo rocks back and forth gently in her chair on this song from Cowboy Junkies’ debut album, Whites Off Earth Now!! The band grooves to Bird’s harmonica solo before they build in intensity as the number continues to roll along. With the audience under her spell, the crowd cheers and applauds while Margo continues to cry her way through to the end of the song.

Margo responds by joking, “We’re going to do a couple of acoustic songs while the boys catch up on the hockey game.” At this point, bassist Alan Anton and drummer Pete Timmins take leave of the stage.

An unplugged set of music ensues which includes “Rock and Bird” which features acoustic guitar and picking mandolin providing a rhythmic accompaniment to Margo’s sweet, full, and focused vocal, and “Rake,” where Margo announces, “This is a Townes Van Zandt song — he wrote beautiful sad songs.” The number waltzes along highlighting Margo’s rich vocal accompanied by strumming guitar and tremolo mandolin playing by Jeff Bird.

After announcing, “This is off the new album,” Margo launches into “Shining Teeth.” Her voice soft and intimate as she sings with soul and feeling, “I don’t want to see your shining teeth no more/Show me your bruised and battered heart/Prove to me that you’ll be true/Let me touch the wounds that have haunted you,” she’s accompanied by brother Michael on acoustic guitar and Jeff Bird on lap steel.

The entire band returns for another number from The Trinity Session, “I Don’t Get It.” Audience members’ toes tap to the groove of this R&B shuffle which features Margo’s bluesy vocal, a distorted Michael Timmins guitar solo, bluesy harmonica work from Bird, and drums played with brushes by Pete Timmins.

On the extended jam which follows, Anton’s bass continues — steady and caressing. Margo vocalizes off mic as the shuffle morphs into a slow rock number and Peter Timmins plays with a single brush and a single mallet. Jeff Bird impresses with a space-age sounding lap steel guitar solo, and Michael Timmins plays a Southern blues-inspired solo on slide guitar.

Layers of sounds drift over each other and continue to create a funky futuristic kind of sound that mesmerizes the audience, the conversation between the instruments building to a close on this psychedelic ‘60s-era jam.

The crowd cheers and Cowboy Junkies respond by performing their 1998 composition, “Good Friday.” On this country-rocker, Margo sounds like Melissa Etheridge — her deep vibrato emanating out over the crowd. Dancing to the music while she sips her tea, her vibe is authentic and relaxed as she sings, “What will I tell you/When you ask me why I’m crying?/Will I point above/At the Red Tail gracefully soaring/Or down to below where its prey/Is quietly trembling?”

After thanking the band’s crew and everyone at the Grunin Center, Margo introduces the crowd to her on-stage colleagues. She also thanks the Jersey audience for coming revealing, “We drove in last night. Our hotel is on the beach. I got to walk on the boardwalk, and no one was there,” before concluding, “It was perfect.”

Here, Margo and the band perform their final number, “Misguided Angel.” On this slow country-rock ballad from The Trinity Session, Margo sings, “Misguided angel hangin’ over me/Heart like a Gabriel, pure and white as ivory/Soul like a Lucifer, black and cold like a piece of lead/Misguided angel, love you ’til I’m dead.”

The crowd responds with a standing ovation and Margo says, “Take care of yourselves,” adding, “No surrender!” before taking a bow at the edge of the stage and exiting with the band.

The clapping continues and Margo, Michael Timmins, and Jeff Bird return for an encore of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.” Accompanied by Michael’s strumming guitar, Margo’s warm vocal tells a story as she sings, “Shelter me from the powder and the finger/Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger/Just think of me as one you never figured/To fade away so young/With so much left undone.”

The crowd responds with excited applause, at which time Margo replies, “Thank you so much,” before she and her colleagues take leave of the stage.

As audience members filter out of the Grunin Center auditorium, we take a moment to chat with several music lovers in attendance who share their opinions of tonight’s performance by Cowboy Junkies.

First, we chat with Ted from Point Pleasant Beach who recalls, “I’ve been listening to Cowboy Junkies since the 1980s. In the early ’90s, I saw them as an opening act at the Garden State Arts Center, but it was too big a venue for them. This is my first time seeing them since, and this is such a great place in which to see them — it’s much more intimate.”

Continuing, “I like the experimental complexity of their music,” Ted explains, “For instance, watch the drummer do what he does when he plays,” prior to noting, “And not just him — they’re all amazing — the precision of each musician takes what he or she does to the level of art so, really, it stops being just music and it truly becomes art.”

Adding, “The crowd understood exactly what they were listening to,” Ted concludes by declaring, “Among people who know their music, Cowboy Junkies are famously famous!”

Next, we chat with Megan and Matt from Manchester. Recalls Megan,“We’ve been listening to Cowboy Junkies for a very long time,” acknowledging, “‘Misguided Angel’ was ‘our song’ and it has been for 27 years now.”

Revealing, “This is first time we’ve seen them live,” Megan says, “It’s so cool. We enjoyed the show — and Margo has an amazing voice; it’s very haunting but not too mellow.”

Gisele from Perkiomenville, PA agrees acknowledging, “I’ve been a fan since the ’80s. Margo Timmins is excellent. Her voice has a certain edginess — it’s a little raw. Her sound is very haunting, and when she performs, she almost goes into a trance where you feel she could almost lose herself in the music.”

Likewise, Todd from Whitehouse Station remarks, “We’ve been seeing Cowboy Junkies live for over 30 years now. For them, it’s all about the vibe — the atmosphere — they create.”

Karen from Whitehouse Station agrees adding, “I love them, but I still have trouble describing their music. It’s kind of folk — kind of blues — kind of country,” before noting, “Their new album, All That Reckoning, is really good, and it was so great to hear those songs in this theater where the sound is so clear.”

Lastly, we chat with Vinnie from Manchester who concurs noting, “I really liked their new material,” before concluding with a smile, “All of their music is so mesmerizing!”

To learn more about Cowboy Junkies, please go to cowboyjunkies.com. For information on upcoming performances at Toms River, NJ’s Grunin Center for the Arts — including Max Weinberg’s Jukebox on November 22, The Ten Tenors: Home for the Holidays on November 26, and The Vienna Boys Choir on December 11 — please go to grunincenter.org.