Many bands often express their interest in stripping their music down to its barest essentials, but few ever actually take the plunge. But with 1988’s “The Trinity Session,” Canada’s Cowboy Junkies did just that.
The album, a mix of sedate covers and mellow originals, was recorded live in a church with only a single microphone picking up the spare sounds, and the results were simply beautiful. The Cowboy Junkies’ version of the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” was so dead-on that no less than Lou Reed heralded it as his favorite VU cover.
Two decades later, the members of the Cowboy Junkies are still dealing with the expectations raised by their early artistic success. Many considered 1996’s mild “Lay It Down” to be a return to form; the album revitalized the band with a minor modern rock hit, “A Common Disaster.”
Still in most regards a family affair, Cowboy Junkies (siblings Margo, Michael and Peter Timmins, along with bassist Alan Anton and a trio of supporting musicians) performed at Ravinia on Wednesday night in support of its newest album, “Miles From Our Home.”
The bucolic environs, pleasant weather and somber music perfectly complemented each other.
Rarely has a band been so accurately defined by its name, as the Cowboy Junkies play a sort of doped-up country-blues that only the most strung-out cowboy would perform in front of the campfire.
Much of the band’s moodiness stems from singer Margo Timmins’ somber vocals, but in a sense, her lack of expression has itself become a potent form of expression. She sings like she’s been walking from gig to gig, weary but full of stories to tell.
And though the band brought along a back-up singer, for the majority of Wednesday’s show Timmins carried the songs herself, lighting up “Misguided Angel” and “Lonely Sinking Feeling” with her deceptively simple approach.
Some of the band’s newer material, like the title track of its most recent album, veers precariously close to the bland pop of 10,000 Maniacs, but Cowboy Junkies deftly skirts such a predictable direction by always adding a hint of darkness.
While bassist Anton carried most of the minimal melodies, drummer Peter Timmins stuck to reserved brush and mallet work and guitarist/songwriter Michael Timmins provided mostly atmosphere with his skeletal playing.
It was up to Margo Timmins to provide the charisma, and with songs like the gently psychedelic “Blue Guitar,” “Sun Comes Up Tuesday Morning” and “Good Friday,” she succeeded in holding on to most of the crowd until the show’s conclusion, when the band played a lazy “Sweet Jane” and a heavenly “Blue Moon.”
Delbert McClinton opened the show with his slick, Southern soul, somewhat in contrast to what the Junkies would later play.
