Cowboy Junkies junky needs to expand


Hey there 'Goners

H, my name is Andrew and I'm a Junkies-aholic. I need a little support from the group if you could be so kind. As a confirmed though never-to-recover Cowboy Junkies fan, I too often find the CJ's playing. My GF is gonna hijack my CD's and my iPod soon and do a little shuffling of her own. Without the thread going too far off course or getting too far from my professed comfort zone, any suggestions on expanding my musical horizons?

Thanks much!
awightman1
It is hard to match the cowboy Junkies laid back sound which I like very much too. I have looked for quite some time and never really found anything.

Who can match Margo Timmens?

not really similar but nice are:

His Name is Alive - Last Night is my favorite of theirs

Ida - Will You Find Me? very good and hope you like it

fwiw, from the selections above Cat Power may match the mood of CJ the best...

good luck
Awightman1,
The closest that I have come across is Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter. Sometimes pidgeon-holed as country noir or goth country, they have a beautiful melancholy sounding lead singer, and play slow, moody, dirge-like ballads and the like. Usually pretty dark in tone. Instrumentation is sparse, and Junky-like, and the sonics are really good on both CD and vinyl. The notable lead guitarist is Phil Wandscher who previously played for Whiskeytown. Check out "Oh My Girl" and "Reckless Burning" on their site or on Amazon. BTW, another good searchable "music similar to XYZ" site is http://www.last.fm/
Love the Cowboy Junkies and have seen them in concert a couple of times. Along with good selections above, I'd highly recommend Over the Rhine, The Innocence Mission (used to open for TCJ), perhaps Gillian Welch if you like to push it a bit towards country/folk/roots stuff...hmmm, maybe The Be Good Tanyas and Po'Girl (also Candadian bands)...Beth Orton, Lucinda Williams, early Trespassers William (Anchor).
Check out Great Lake Swimmers - self titled. Very much has a Trinity Session feel to it. Recorded in a silo, and they too hail from Toronto. The defunct magazine No Depression was a great source for music, and their web site may suit your purposes. Pandora would help as well, and you may want to check out allmusic.com for recommendations for similar artists. Good luck!