''One Soul Now'' is a 2004 album by the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

band

Cowboy Junkies Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses ...

. It is their first album of new material since ''

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Go ...

'' in 2001. It was released on Latent Recordings in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and

Zoë Records Zoë Records is an independent record label that is a part of the Rounder Records group. Zoë predominantly distributes albums by folk rock and alternative pop artists. Artists who have released albums on the label include Mary Chapin Carpenter, ...

internationally.

Album development

The album title emerged from a quote from

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

's novel,

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

: "Maybe it's all men and all women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit – the human sperit – the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body’s a part of." The idea behind ''One Soul Now'' is that everyone is interconnected. While the Cowboy Junkies was touring to support ''

'', the band members started collecting second-hand recording equipment without a plan or purpose, just a need. When the band was back home, they looked at all the recording studios, and decided to set up the recording equipment in their rehearsal area, eventually turning their space into a recording studio, The Clubhouse. ''One Soul Now'' is the first album the band made in their new studio. Having their rehearsal space become their recording studio changed the process of creating their tracks. Previously, they would start in the rehearsal space, determine how the songs would work, then go to a studio when ready. Now, the band recorded everything as they worked through the rehearsal process. Later, when they listened to the recordings, the Junkies could pick out the recording where the songs were most vibrant. Per the band, "For example "He Will Call You Baby" was recorded as the band was learning the arrangement and still unsure; "No Long Journey Home" was a trial run through with embellishments added later; "The Stars of Our Stars" was broken down into individual instruments and recorded piece by piece over the course of many weeks…" The band's ninth studio album is their first album recorded without an outside producer or engineer. One song, "Simon Keeper", was recorded much earlier, during the ''Open'' sessions at Daryl Smith's recording studio, Chemical Sound. The Cowboy Junkies also recorded a 5 song bonus EP of cover songs that they labeled neath your covers, part 1''. They gave away the bonus CD free with every purchase of the ''One Soul Now'' CD while supplies lasted.

Track listing

Personnel

Cowboy Junkies * Margo Timmins – vocals *Michael Timmins – guitar *Alan Anton – bass *Peter Timmins – drums Additional musicians *Jeff Bird – percussion, electronic mandolin (track 9),

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

(track 5) *Jaro Czerwinec – accordion (track 9) *Linford Detweiler – organ (track 9) * Richard Bell – organ, piano Production *Michael Timmins – producer, engineer, mixing * Peter Moore – mastering *Jeff Wolpert – mixing *Daryl Smith – engineer, mixing *Michael Sponarski – engineer *David Houghton – art direction *Open Circle – cover design

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2004 albums Cowboy Junkies albums Latent Recordings albums