Cowboy Junkies
In 1985, her brother Michael recruited Margo as the vocalist for the Cowboy Junkies even though she had never sung publicly before. Initially Margo would not sing in front of the other band members, she would only sing in front of Michael. Eventually, Michael convinced Margo to sing in front of the other band members and they liked what they heard.
Michael knew that she had a pretty enough voice, but that she was shy and anxious. However, he also knew that Margo was really a show off at heart. "A little shaky" was how Michael remembers her first attempts behind the microphone.
Margo has said about that time, "So when he asked me I was freaked out, but I said 'Okay, so long as if I don't do a good job you fire me' I didn't want to hurt his music, because his music is so important to him."
It took a long time for Margo to get comfortable singing in front of an audience. If fact, many of the early shows had Margo singing with her back to the audience.
Margo has stated, "In those early days, I wouldn't turn around to face the audience. But nobody forced me and I slowly turned around and I slowly opened my eyes and I slowly began to say hello. And now they can't shut me up! I see Mike looking at me as I tell a story that has no relevance whatsoever and I lose track. Now, the guys have to start playing songs because my on-stage monologues go on so long."
While Margo has stated that it took her ten years to get comfortable singing in front of an audience to this day, Margo suffers from stage fright and has a ritual she performs prior to each show. Margo says, "I do two things. One is, I iron my dress and I post the set list on the wall and stare at it to get a sense of the flow of the songs. After that, I arrange my flowers. I always have flowers on stage. Once they're arranged, I hand them to my crew guy to put on stage and that's the cue that we're about to start. Arranging my flowers is my meditation. I focus on the flowers and think about nothing. I have no problems being on the stage nowadays. But it's still difficult for me to get from the side of the stage to the microphone. Just that initial walking out is hard. I have my tea. I always bring my tea out with me because I think it's an anchor, it's something to carry, something to do with my hands. I stand on the side of the stage drinking my tea before I go out. That's my nervous time. I go out, I say hi, and we go into a song. Within that song, I calm down, catch my breath and relax. Then it's like, Yeah, I like it up here. I forgot how much I like it up here."
As the lead singer of the Cowboy Junkies, Margo is more comfortable being the focal point of attention than she used to be. But she admits that if she is invited to party, and no one wants to talk with her, she is quite happy sitting quietly by herself. She claims that she is not an extrovert and does not have a lot of friends. She is close to one girlfriend, a sister and her mother. She likes being at home. This is exemplified by the three essential things she brings with her on the road while touring with the Cowboy Junkies - her toothbrush, needlepoint and hot water bottle.13
Margo believes that the best song she ever wrote is "Misguided Angel". And when asked what was the best thing ever written about the Cowboy Junkies, Margo replied "I think it was about my hair".
Read more about this topic: Margo Timmins
Famous quotes containing the words cowboy and/or junkies:
“During the cattle drives, Texas cowboy music came into national significance. Its practical purpose is well known—it was used primarily to keep the herds quiet at night, for often a ballad sung loudly and continuously enough might prevent a stampede. However, the cowboy also sang because he liked to sing.... In this music of the range and trail is “the grayness of the prairies, the mournful minor note of a Texas norther, and a rhythm that fits the gait of the cowboy’s pony.””
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Clearly, some time ago makers and consumers of American junk food passed jointly through some kind of sensibility barrier in the endless quest for new taste sensations. Now they are a little like those desperate junkies who have tried every known drug and are finally reduced to mainlining toilet bowl cleanser in an effort to get still higher.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)