Cowboy Junkies have announced an extensive UK tour for April and May, marking four decades of music with their aptly titled Celebrating 40 Years and Beyond run of shows. The dates will see the Toronto-formed band return to stages across England and Scotland, revisiting a catalogue that has quietly reshaped the boundaries of folk, blues, rock and alternative music. When the band last toured the UK in 2022, The Telegraph praised their performances for roaming “across a wide musical terrain, overlaying their songs with a hushed intricacy,” calling the result “beautiful” — a fitting description for a band whose power has always lived in subtlety rather than spectacle.
The tour coincides with the release of a major new retrospective, ‘Open To Beauty,' a three-LP collection drawing from Cowboy Junkies’ 21st century output. Due out May 1 via Cooking Vinyl, the release revisits key tracks from albums including Open, One Soul Now, Early 21st Century Blues, At The End of Paths Taken, Renmin Park, Demons, Sing In My Meadow, The Wilderness, All That Reckoning, Songs of the Recollection and Such Ferocious Beauty. Available as a 3 LP, 2 CD and digital set, the collection reflects a period when the band embraced independence after leaving the major label system. “We figured this was as good a time as any to look back, reassess and reflect on the music that we have recorded over these past two and a half decades,” says guitarist Michael Timmins.
That sense of reflection feels timely for a band whose influence continues to ripple outward. Recently, Cowboy Junkies’ iconic rendition of Lou Reed’s ‘Sweet Jane' found new life when it appeared in the final episode of Netflix’s Stranger Things, introducing their hushed intensity to another generation of listeners. Since forming in Toronto in 1985, the group — built around siblings Margo, Michael and Peter Timmins, alongside bassist Alan Anton — has released 29 albums and remained steadfastly committed to its own artistic path. From the million-selling quiet revolution of ‘The Trinity Session' to their modern, self-directed work, Cowboy Junkies have never chased trends, choosing instead to trust restraint, atmosphere and emotional clarity.
Tour dates are as follows:
April
29/4 – Bath, Komedia
30/4 – Bexhill, De La Warr Pavilion
May
3/5 – Edinburgh, Queen’s Hall
4/5 – Ulverston, The Coro
6/5 – Sunderland, The Fire Station
7/5 – Birmingham, Town Hall
9/5 – Leeds, Howard Assembly Rooms
10/5 – Manchester, New Century
11/5 – London, The Palladium
13/5 – Milton Keynes, The Stables
14/5 – Norwich, Norfolk & Norwich Festival
Tickets go on sale January 30 via the band’s official website.
