Originally from Toronto, Canada, (the place that gives us a super-dirty rock and roll bar aptly named, The Bovine Sex Club,) the Cowboy Junkies formed in 1985 and has surpassed their 25 year mark. They've recorded over twenty albums as a band, as well as a healthy number of solo albums. Their tracks, "Sweet Jane," a cover version of Velvet Underground's original, as well as songs, "Common Disaster," "Angel Mine," "Something More Besides You," "Lonely Sinking Feeling," and numerous others, have helped generate a loyal cult following both on their home soil and abroad.

Well, for the Cowboy Junkies junkie, you'll be elated to know they've done it again with their newest release, Demons, a posthumous delve into the mind and soul of friend, and kindred singer songwriter, Vic Chestnutt.

Vic Chestnutt, from Athens, Georgia, and a prolific songwriter in his own right, serves as the tragic hero behind the recordings of Demons. Chestnutt was known for being a provocateur, often bringing his audience to the precipice of anger and flirting with the threshold. Demons is a penned personal narrative shaped from Chestnutt's life's experiences, particularly his childhood, as well as the car accident that left him partially paralyzed. After publicly decreeing he had "attempted suicide three or four times, it just didn't take," during an interview with Terry Gross, the world mourned the loss of the poignant songwriter on Christmas of 2009, who died of an overdose.

Before Chestnutt passed, he and the Cowboy Junkies had discussed plans to collaborate on an album that would have Chestnutt as the primary singer, and the Cowboy Junkies backing him up. They never had the chance to fulfill that conversation. However, the Cowboy Junkies stayed true to their desire to make a recording of Chestnutt's songs, and had the arduous task of filtering through his life, and life's work, to select the tracks for what would become Demons. Demons is the second volume of the Nomad Series, a four-disc album to be released over an 18-month period.

As far as Demons goes, Margo Timmins posses one of the most hauntingly beautiful female voices that has ever graced the stage. Combined with the feverish intensity and passion Michael, Peter, and Alan bring to the work, and fueled by Vic Chestnutt's elegiac lyricism, Demons is slated to be one of the most defining albums from the Cowboy Junkies to date.

It is with great honor I had the opportunity to interview Michael Timmins for a heart-to-heart about the upcoming release of their album, Demons, which will be released on their own label, Latent Recordings.

antiMusic: I've always loved your music and I've often considered your music food for the more cerebral listener. Your album, Lay it Down, is one of my top ten favorite albums ever recorded. Can you talk about the creative process and what inspires you to write such heady melodies, lyrics, and arrangements?

Michael Timmins: My introduction to music was in the late 60's and early 70's when my older brother starting bringing the revolution in to the house; Dylan, the Doors, Velvet Underground, The Beatles, Stones…on and on. Heady lyrics, melodies and arrangements is what music was about in those days and that is what captured me at a really young age. Even if, as a pre-teen, I didn't understand what was being sung about or insinuated in most of the music I was listening to, I was still captivated by the knowledge that there was a world out there that I had yet to be introduced to and that I had yet to discover. I am still trying to uncover that world, although as I grew older I began to realize that the more intriguing and puzzling world wasn't "out there", but inside.

antiMusic: Talk about your latest work, Demons. What was everyone's role, literally, figuratively, metaphorically, on the album? How does the mood differ from previous releases, and how has the crucial element that is critical to the Junkies' sound stay vibrant?

Michael Timmins: Everyone had a role in picking the songs. We went through a lengthy period where everyone had to spend time with Vic's catalogue and then pick songs that they wanted to work on. Once the choices were made everyone fell in to their regular role. It was up to me and Pete and Al to create the soundscape and the overall vibe and then it was up to Margo to bring these songs to life in the new setting that we had created. I think Margo had the toughest job. Vic's songs are very specific to him and his performances are such a large part of putting the song across. So Margo had to find a way to make these her songs. I think our sound has stayed vibrant because we all still have faith in what each of us does with their instrument and how each of us brings a unique element to our sound.

antiMusic: You worked with Vic Chestnutt in the past, even touring with him for a brief stint. Can you talk about working with Vic Chestnutt, and how that lead up to you wanting to cover his recordings?

Michael Timmins: He was always very professional on stage and during recording sessions. He was always very prepared and never seemed to take it lightly. The thing that attracted us to him was his complete honesty on stage and the way he wasn't afraid to challenge the audience and to expose himself to the audience.

antiMusic: What was it that first attracted you to Vic's work? Do you find that artists today lack the qualities Vic possessed? Can you give an example?

Michael Timmins: Vic had a very unique song writing style that was very specific to his experiences and his life. The brilliance of it was that, despite it being so specific to him, there was also a thread running through most of his songs that the listener could also connect to their own circumstance.

antiMusic: You mention in a previous interview the idea initially behind the album was to be a collaborative project with Vic's songs and the Junkies as the band. What changes were made in the final project?

Michael Timmins: I had discussions with Vic about doing a Chesnutt/Junkies album in which he would write the songs and we would be the band…Margo and him would share vocals. He died before that project even took its first steps. So Demons is a completely separate and different project.

antiMusic: Did you have the opportunity to collaborate with Vic before you recorded Demons? What do you think he would say of the final project? Do you think he would be happy with what you've done with his music?

Michael Timmins: We did collaborate with Vic on our Trinity Revisited project, which was a great experience. I don't know what he would think of Demons. I think he would be excited and flattered that another band that he had some respect for was covering an album's worth of his material. I would love hear his reaction to these recordings.

antiMusic: Talk about the discovery process with listening to Vic's recording and delving deep into his experiences. What kind of effect did that have on you? On how you approached this album?

Michael Timmins: It was intense delving deep in to his lyrics. There is obviously a lot of pain in them and in the context of his death, the lyrics take on another level of intensity.

antiMusic: Do you think Demons capture the visceral honesty and integrity of Vic's experiences?

Michael Timmins: That's not for me to say. I think once you take Vic's vocals out of the equation you lose some of the visceral-ness, but hopefully we've replaced it in other ways.

antiMusic: If you had to choose a defining track for this project, what would it be, and why?

Michael Timmins: I don't know what the defining track would be. I like the raw sound of "Wrong Piano," and I like where we brought the arrangement of "Hovered With Short Wings," I love the slow burn groove and slinky organ on "Betty Lonely," I love the duet between Andy Maize and Margo on "When The Bottom Fell Out," and there are lots of other elements that we brought to these songs that I am proud of.

antiMusic: What excites you about this album?

Michael Timmins: My hope is that it inspires more people to go and find Vic's catalogue and explore it thoroughly…that would be very exciting.

antiMusic: It must have been devastating to hear of Vic's death as you were working on a joint project with him. Can you talk about how his passing influences or contributed to Demons?

Michael Timmins: We weren't working with him at the time, but it was still very shocking news. Certainly without his death we wouldn't have made this album, which is kind of a twisted bit of irony (that Vic would probably have enjoyed).

antiMusic: You've worked collectively as the Junkies and have also recorded solo efforts. How has recording independently added to your band as a whole?

Michael Timmins: Any experience that one has in the studio or on-stage, whether it be a positive or negative experience, is always a learning experience. Working with different musicians and seeing how they go about their business is endlessly educational, exciting, and fascinating to me.

antiMusic: What excites you about music today? Do you like where music is heading?

Michael Timmins: It's been a lousy year for me in terms of hearing a new album and being really excited by it. There has been a lot of good music but nothing that has completely floored me this year. I think in general the trend of the last few years towards intelligent singer/songwriter based music (sometimes disguised inside a band setting), is very exciting.

antiMusic: How do you stay relevant in an iTunes world?

Michael Timmins: Well, one can't really compete with itunes, but over the last year we have totally re-built our website so that it offers hundreds of recordings that can only be found on our site. We also continue to use it to engage our audience to the best of our abilities. Of course, the best way to keep relevant is to continue making relevant music, at least we feel that it is relevant and that our aesthetic is the only true guide post that we know.

antiMusic: What's next, individually, collectively?

Michael Timmins: Next is volume 3 of The Nomad Series (Demons is volume 2), which will be called Sing In My Meadow. We start work on it in a couple of weeks. I am also working on a new album by Lee Harvey Osmond as well as a couple of other recording projects.

antiMusic: What would you like to add?

Michael Timmins: Everyone should visit cowboyjunkies.com to check out what we are doing on-line….and buy a Vic Chesnutt CD if you've never owned one.

antiMusic thanks you for your time and thoughtful response.