Michael Timmins is guitarist with renowned alt-country outfit Cowboy Junkies.
Since forming in 1985, the band (which also includes vocalist Margo Timmins, drummer Peter Timmins, and bassist Alan Anton) has released 19 studio albums to great acclaim.
With their breakthrough album, 1987's The Trinity Session they proved there was an audience waiting for something quiet, beautiful and reflective. Their latest lauded outing, Songs of the Recollection, is a diverse covers album which reflects their disparate tastes and influences while showcasing their unique sound.
Ahead of Cowboy Junkies' forthcoming Irish concert at the National Concert Hall on Thursday 17th November we asked guitarist Michael Timmins for his choice cultural picks...
FILM
My re-introduction to the inside of a movie theatre happened relatively recently when our daughter insisted that we go see Everything, Everywhere All At Once. And we're glad we took her advice. Its a film that demands a big screen and one's full attention... part sci-fi adventure, part kung-fu epic, part costume drama, it's a comedy, it's a small family drama, it's a unique look at the immigrant experience. It's brilliant.
MUSIC
My go-to album these days is Kamasi Washington's Heaven and Earth. It's so dense that it demands repeated listening. Once you get to the end of the 3rd disc, it’s time to start again...
BOOK
I just finished Jennifer Egan's The Candy House. But before I started it, I went back and reread her 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit From The Goon Squad, because this new book is a quasi-sequeal. I'm glad I did. Re-reading Goon Squad reminded me of its genius. An overarching contemplation on time and its harrowing and bare-fisted effects on our lives, dressed up in some brilliant story-telling and complex narrative jumping. One of my favourite books of the past many years...The Candy House ain't so bad either!
THEATRE
I haven't been to any plays recently, but I have a ticket for a re-staging of Pina Bausch's The Rite Of Spring being performed by a newly formed ensemble of 36 dancers from various African countries - can't get much artier than that!
TV
I've been catching up on Donald Glover's Atlanta, which is one of the most eccentric and entertaining series on TV these days. A comedy about a rising rapper and his cousin who is trying to manage his career. But it's so much more than that and goes off on these completely unexpected tangents and rambles. It is a comedy, but ultimately it is a very sly and cutting look at racism in all its forms. I'm in the middle of Season 3 and they are touring the UK and Europe, so it has gotten me excited about our upcoming tour.
GIG
Last night I went to see my friend John Borra's band celebrate the release of their new album, Cassettes in Common. They ended the night with a rave-up version of the Velvet Underground's Foggy Notion... Live music is where it's at!
ART
I was fortunate to catch the opening of Enrique Martinez Celaya's exhibition, The Foreigners Song in NYC a few weeks ago. His work emanates passion and sincerity, two things sorely lacking in the art world these days.
TECH
I love my Merlin Bird ID app. Hear a bird, record it in the app and it will identify it 95% of the time.
THE NEXT BIG THING...
Our first overseas tour in three years. Can't wait!
Cowboy Junkies play the National Concert Hall on Thursday 17th November - find out more here.
