Random Brain Dump

Cowboy Junkies is an alternative rock band from Toronto with their down-right depressing lyrics, nice blend of guitar and harmonica, subtle rhythms and of course the original voice of Margo Timmins. Their melancholic music is a mix of blues, country, folk, and rock. With a lot of depressing with titles like “To Love Is to Bury”, “‘Cause Cheap Is how I Feel”, “Lonely sinking feeling”, their style is a bit off-beat, which to me is appealing. In fact, the band makes a point of evading mainstream: quitting major record label and starts distributing their own music with their independent label. How cool is that?

I first heard their music during my college years; my room-mate Minh had a copy of The Trinity Session. The album was recorded live in a single day in a church in Toronto and basically launched the band, an early album that remains one of their best work. At first, I didn’t think much of the music after casual listening. But during a late night study, I was hooked on their tunes! Guess it’s got to do with ambiance and the undivided attention from a pair of headphones. I found their music captivating and they became one of my favorite bands. I’ve been following their works ever since that one late night.

So I was looking forward to their concert all this summer. Last Wednesday, after the kids were done with their swimming classes, we got them ready to spent the night with their cousin Malia. After their aunt Betty drove them off, Suzanne & I headed to the Mountain Winery. It was our first time there. There were obvious signs of renovations everywhere. But it has a breath-taking view of the valley. The venue is small, intimate and beautiful with the valley below on one side and the back-drop of wineries on the other. I wish I had a chance to take some photographs during the sunset. We arrived as the opening act started playing, so no chance to stroll and tour the place. I lugged along my camera but had to hide it in my jacket as I was scared away by the posted signs banning non-consumer cameras. I was able to sneak in a few clicks though. 🙂

The Bittersweets opened for the Cowboy Junkies and they were very good by the way. The band even blogged about that nite. The lead singer Hannah Prater seemed very down-to-earth and had very nice voice. Not sure the title of the last song they performed but it was a beautiful song that starts with “Good night San Francisco…” (can’t go wrong with lyrics like that). I’ll probably order their debut CD; very talented band and I have no doubt we’ll hear more of them in the coming years.

This was the 3rd time I saw The Cowboy Junkies’ concert and I’d say it was as good as the 1st concert I saw them during the Lay It Down tour (Lay It Down was an amazing album). I was hoping for more numbers from Lay It Down and they didn’t get around to their own rendition of Lou Reed’s Sweet Jane as I’d hoped. But they did a few songs from their old album The Trinity Session including Blue Moon. They closed the night with Margo’s masterful rendition of Misguided Angel— it was best of the night.

The Cowboy Junkies are a type of band that is perfect for small venues like Mountain Winery. The ambiance was great. Suzanne & I enjoyed the evening. What’s not to like: good music, starry night and beer in our hands!