Cowboy Junkies: Music Is The Drug - The Podcast

Welcome back to the start of the third series of Music Is The Drug - and they said it wouldn't last...

It's not too many bands that can dig into their archives and unearth an entire unreleased album, but that's what Cowboy Junkies have done with the upcoming vinyl release of "Sharon" - notes on how to get a copy lie below.

Having produced two stunning albums in "Whites Off Earth Now!!" and "The Trinity Session", using just a single microphone to record the band playing the songs live, when it came to making their third album, the band were keen to maintain that blueprint.

To do that, location is key. Having used their garage for "Whites" and then the Church of the Holy Trinity, the search was on for the next sympathetic recording location.

Michael Timmins and Alan Anton talk us through that process and why, in the end, the "Sharon' recordings were shelved, only to eventually see the light of day in 2022...


"Music Is The Drug" is available wherever you get your podcasts. Please remember to subscribe at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser and all the rest.

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from the band, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To order "Sharon", click here.

To buy "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here.

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

The world in tumult. Political instability. War.

Yes, that was the far off world of 2005. Thank heavens those times never came again...

In the aftermath of 9/11, of the invasion of Iraq, the golden promise of the end of the Cold War just over a decade earlier seemed to be disappearing and memories of Vietnam cane back strong.

In the face of that, Cowboy Junkies did what the great bands did in the '60s and made a protest record, "Early 21st Century Blues', an album of mostly cover versions taken from the  days of the counter-culture.

As we take you through the album with Michael Timmins and Alan Anton, we'll discuss its conceptual nature, encounter a returning John Timmins, marvel at Richie Havens' hands, discover an unusual source for cover art, learn of a rare endorsement from Yoko and hear about an unfinished gem from the sessions that's still deep in the archives - the survival of some ancient ones and zeroes permitting...


We're now taking a break for the summer, so please, remember to subscribe to "Music Is The Drug" at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser and all the rest so you don't miss out when we return at the start of September.

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from the band, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To listen to "Early 21st Century Blues", click here.

To order the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here.

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

"It's the kind of night that's so cold when you spit, it freezes before it hits the ground..."

Has there ever been a better opening couplet to a song than that? Nope.

That's how "'Cause Cheap Is How I Feel" begins on "The Caution Horses" album, another single from that record that helped establish the band in the mainstream consciousness and on MTV.

Speaking of MTV, Michael Timmins and Alan Anton talk about their adventures in video promo land. We also cover the writing of the song and the massive contribution made to the recording of it by accordionist extraordinaire, Jaro Czerwinec.

"Your body for my soul, fair swap, 'cause cheap is how I feel."

Has there ever been a better closing couplet to a song than that? Nope...

After next week's episode, we're taking a break for the summer, so please, remember to subscribe to "Music Is The Drug" at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser and all the rest so you don't miss out when we return.

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from the band, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To buy "The Caution Horses" on vinyl, click here.

To listen to "The Caution Horses", click here.

To listen to "200 More Miles: Live Performances 1985-1994", click here.

To order the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here.

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

In this special episode we concentrate on "Townies: An Audioplay", the album put together by Michael Timmins and Andy Maize of Skydiggers in 2020 and we are joined by both of them to chart the writing and recording of a project that was initially interrupted, and then informed, by the first Covid lockdown that year. It also owes plenty to Mike's "Improvisations From The Between Time" album, which we also cover in the podcast.

Set in motion by a conversation between the two, "Townies" was originally destined to be based around childhood memories. Lockdown halted the project and then,  on their return to the studio, the music developed a second act, focusing on a tumultuous year and all that that means. It's a fascinating journey and both Mike and Andy help guide you through it in this podcast.

Termed an "audioplay", "Townies" is currently only available for download or streaming, as is "Improvisations From The Between Time" - if you haven't heard them yet, tune in, turn on and drop out...

To make sure you don't miss out on each weekly episode, remember to subscribe to "Music Is The Drug" at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Audible, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser and all the rest...

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from them, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To download or listen to "Townies", click here.

To listen to "Improvisations From The Between Time", click here.

To buy the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here. 

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

"Blue Guitar" from "Miles From Our Home" is the next Cowboy Junkies song that we're looking closer at with Michael Timmins and Alan Anton.

Mike talks us through the pretty unconventional genesis of the song and the reasons why it is ant on the live setlist quite as often as he would like, while Alan lifts the lid on the inspiration for the bassline that grounds the song throughout.

Dark and brooding? We've got it covered...


To make sure you don't miss out on each weekly episode, remember to subscribe to "Music Is The Drug" at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Audible, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser and all the rest...

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from them, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To listen to "Miles From Our Home", click here.

To buy the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here. 

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

Just like "Hunted", which we looked at in an earlier podcast, "The Slide' is a song that Cowboy Junkies have taken two studio bites at, initially on "One Soul Now" and then again on the box set "Notes Falling Slow".

With the help of Michael Timmins and Alan Anton, plus some rare recordings of the song from the "Anatomy Of An album" CD ROM, we chart its development and discover just why it is that the band felt the need to cut a fresh version of it.

More than that, we look into the sentiment behind the song and rehash an old Woody Allen joke in the process. That's "Music Is The Drug", all human life is here...

To make sure you don't miss out on each weekly episode, remember to subscribe to "Music Is The Drug" at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser and all the rest...

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from the band, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To listen to "One Soul Now", click here.

To listen to "Notes Falling Slow", click here.

To order the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here.

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

"Angels In The Wilderness" is one of the cornerstone songs from the fourth album in the "Nomad Series", "The Wilderness".

It's a song that has gone through a number of changes since it was first played live in 2008 and one where the definitive performance hasn't been easy to pin down. Recently reintroduced to the live repertoire, it's a song worth rediscovering after it got a little lost in the deluge of "Nomad" material.

Influenced by Marilynne Robinson's novel "Gilead", and with a slight lyrical lift from the hymn "Oh God Our Help In Ages Past", it's at the heavier end of the lyrical spectrum as Michael Timmins and Alan Anton explain.


To make sure you don't miss out on each weekly episode, remember to subscribe to "Music Is The Drug" at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser and all the rest...

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from them, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To listen to "The Wilderness", click here.

To order the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here. 

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

"Missing Children" is a song that reaches across the ages - from one poem written by Michael Timmins to another written by William Blake 200 years ago - to approach a subject that still confronts us all too often today.

The song has become a live favourite since its release on "All That Reckoning" and features all the hallmarks of an enduring Junkies song - a chunky rhythm, propelled by Mike and Pete, Alan's lead bass figure and a ferocious vocal from Margo, the song's message spat out with no equivocation. Another classic from the canon, this podcast explores the making of "Missing Children".


To make sure you don't miss out on each weekly episode, remember to subscribe to "Music Is The Drug" at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser and all the rest...

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from them, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To listen to "All That Reckoning", click here.

You can buy "All That Reckoning here.

To order the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here. 

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

We've got a bonus episode for you this time, when special guest host Jason Lent (@VelvetRebel1984) quizzes usual host Dave Bowler about his biography of Cowboy Junkies, "Music Is The Drug", published in 2021.

You can find out how the book came about, how the band approached being interviewed for hours on end, and all the behind the scenes stuff that goes into writing 250,000 words - hint, long hours at a keyboard and lots of coffee - as Jason delves deep into the text.

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from them, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To order the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here. 

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.

It's 21 years ago this month that Cowboy Junkies released "Open", their first album after going independent again, so we thought we should celebrate it with an album special podcast this time around.

We're taking an overview of the album as a whole, looking at the thinking that went into leaving the major labels behind, the approach that they took to recording and the input that guest musicians Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist from Over The Rhine had on the album.

With the help of Michael Timmins and Alan Anton, we'll go through the whole "Open" experience, from start to finish.


To make sure you don't miss out on each weekly episode of "Music Is The Drug", remember to subscribe at your favourite podcast provider - Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify, Deezer, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, Audible, MixCloud and all the rest...

"Cowboy Junkies - Music Is The Drug" is hosted by Dave Bowler, author of the authorised biography of the band. To order it from them, click here.
To order direct from Omnibus Press in the UK & Europe, click here.

To order the new album, "Songs of the Recollection", click here.

To listen to "Open", click here.

To buy "Open" on CD or vinyl, click here.

For the ever expanding "Music Is The Drug" playlist on Spotify, click here.

For more info on Cowboy Junkies, click here.

For tour dates, click here. 

Copyright 2022 Latent Recordings.