Demons (Cowboy Junkies album)

Demons is an album by the Canadian alt-country band Cowboy Junkies, released in 2011. It contains eleven Vic Chesnutt covers. It is Volume Two of the Nomad Series.

Demons
Studio album by
Cowboy Junkies
ReleasedJanuary 18, 2011 (digital)[1][2]
February 14, 2011 (CD)[3]
GenreAlternative country
Length47:53
LabelLatent, Razor & Tie, Diverse Records
ProducerMichael Timmins
Cowboy Junkies chronology
Renmin Park
(2010)		 Demons
(2011)		 Sing in My Meadow
(2011)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Cover Me[5]
The Telegraph[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
PopMatters[3]

Album development

Vic Chesnutt died at age 45 on December 25, 2009, and Demons is the Junkies tribute album to him.[5] The band had previously shown their respect for Chesnutt by including him in their twentieth anniversary celebration of The Trinity Session when they redid the album as Trinity Revisited, which included Chesnutt as one of the musicians, including taking the lead on one song, "Postcard Blues". He had also previously toured with the Cowboy Junkies several times, starting with the tour supporting Lay It Down.[8][9] Michael Timmins stated about this album "One of the hopes of this album is that it inspires people to seek out the originals and keep his music alive. We had intended to do an album where he would write the songs, and we would be the band. Now we're trying to fulfill a bit of that desire."[10] Chesnutt and the Junkies were planning on doing a collaborative album together, but Chesnutt died shortly before they could start recording. The Junkies then mined his previous work to showcase Chesnutt's personal demons that he laid out in his very honest song writing. The album may also be exorcising some of the Cowboy Junkies' demons as well. The Junkies turn an album born out of the death of their friend into an assertion of life.[11] According to Michael Timmins, they approached the recording of the album with the same spirit that they felt Vic Chesnutt approached his. They let accidents happen, investing the "songs with the same spirit and the adventure with which they were written, at the same time investing them with our own Northern spin".[9] Fifteen years earlier, the band had tried to cover one of Chestnutt's song, "West of Rome", but scrapped the project when they could not capture the sound they needed to give the song what it required. After Chestnutt's death, in the middle of their Nomad project, the Junkies were kicking around ideas of cover songs, and it occurred to them that Chestnutt was who they wanted to cover. The band did not want to just recreate Chestnutt's songs, but bring something to them. Margo got deep into the songs and figured out how to represent Chestnutt's voice. Michael Timmins believes that having fifteen more years to mature and gain insight allowed the band to grasp Chestnutt's work.[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Vic Chesnutt.

No.TitleLength
1."Wrong Piano"4:30
2."Flirted with You All My Life"3:46
3."See You Around"5:53
4."Betty Lonely"5:00
5."Square Room"4:56
6."Ladle"4:35
7."Supernatural"3:37
8."West of Rome"5:06
9."Strange Language"2:51
10."We Hovered with Short Wings"4:46
11."When the Bottom Fell Out"2:53
Total length:49:15
Bonus digital tracks[12]
No.TitleLength
1."Stay Inside"4:51
2."Old Hotel"4:18
3."Withering"2:43
4."Marathon"5:26
5."Forthright"7:11
6."Sad Peter Pan"3:51
7."Guilty by Association"3:26
Total length:31:46

Personnel

Cowboy Junkies

  • Margo Timmins – vocals
  • Michael Timmins – guitar, backing vocals
  • Alan Anton – bass
  • Peter Timmins – drums, percussion

Additional musicians[13]

  • Jeff Bird – mandolin
  • Joby Baker – organ, piano, Wurlitzer, horn arrangement
  • Aaron Goldstein - guitar
  • Tania Elizabeth – fiddle
  • Dave Henry - cello
  • Henry Kucharzyk - woodwind arrangement
  • Alfons Fear, Nick Lariviere, Roy Styffe - horn
  • Bob Stevenson - clarinet
  • Andy Maize - backing vocals

Production[13]

  • Michael Timmins – producer, engineer, mixed by
  • Peter J. Moore – mastered at the E Room
  • Peter Timmins - assistant
  • Joby Baker – engineer, mixing
  • Dave Henry - engineer
  • Alice Phieu – graphics design
  • Enrique Martinez Celaya – cover image

References
  1. Gaston, Peter (January 14, 2011). "Exclusive: Cowboy Junkies Cover Vic Chesnutt". Spin. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  2. Schlansky, Evan (January 14, 2011). "Listen: Cowboy Junkies Cover Vic Chesnutt's "See You Around"". American Songwriter. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  3. Clifford, Bill (April 5, 2011). "Cowboy Junkies: Demons; The Nomad Series, Volume 2". PopMatters. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  4. Allen, James. "Demons: The Nomad Series, Volume 2 - Cowboy Junkies". AllMusic. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  5. Duncan, Greg. "Demons - Cowboy Junkies". Cover Me. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  6. Chilton, Martin (February 15, 2011). "Cowboy Junkies: Demons, CD review". The Telegraph. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  7. Keyes, J. Edward (March 10, 2011). "Cowboy Junkies: Demons". Rolling Stone.
  8. Lent, Jason (January 14, 2011). "Cowboy Junkies - Demons". No Depression. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  9. Timmins, Michael (July 2010). "Cowboy Junkies : Demons". Diverse Records. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  10. Belcher, David (February 16, 2011). "Canadians Who Still Have Fun Being Somber". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  11. Hurst, Josh (February 25, 2011). "Cowboy Junkies: "Demons"". The Hurst Review. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  12. "The Nomad Series, Volume 2: Demons: Bonus Tracks EP". MusicBrainz. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  13. "Demons: The Nomad Series, Vol. 2 - Cowboy Junkies | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
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