About this Site
Well, it all started for me back in the late
1980s. Like many people, I was first exposed to the music of Cowboy
Junkies through their appearance on the soundtrack of the film
"Natural Born Killers." I remember the haunting video for "Sweet
Jane" very well. At the time, I was (still am) extremely passionate
about the Grateful Dead, and Cowboy Junkies contributed
a beautiful version of one of Jerry Garcia's most poetically
beautiful songs, "To Lay Me Down," to the "Deadicated" tribute
album.
These two events put the band on my radar, but I
didn't really "get" them, as it were, until 1994. Two
things really got me hooked. First, shortly after moving to Colorado, I heard a song by
Natalie Merchant and R.E.M. called "Photograph" on
KBCO radio. I searched and
found it on the "Born to Choose" CD, which I bought, mainly for
"Photograph." Cowboy Junkies had contributed the beautiful "Lost My
Driving Wheel" to the disk. Shortly after that, I was awarded a
couple of free disks from the BMG Music Club, and one that I chose,
almost on a whim, was the live CD "200 More Miles." After listening
to it just once, I was completely hooked, and went out to get the
rest of the band's disks.
In 1999, I managed to convince my editor at the
Denver Post to let me interview Michael Timmins for a preview on the
band's show at the Ogden Theater on July 21, 1999. Michael gave a
great interview, and at the end I asked if it was OK if I taped the
show. He gave his approval, and we traded e-mail addresses so I
could send him a copy.
Over the ensuing months, we stayed in touch, and
when the band announced the winter leg of their 2000 "Waltz Across
America" tour, the closest location was St. Louis. I drove out and
was treated to an opening "Ring on the Sill," my favorite song.
During the long drive back through the endless flatlands of Kansas,
I started thinking about all the tapers I knew around the country
from trading and the discussion lists I was on, and how great it
would be to make sure Cowboy Junkies' shows were always taped. When I
got back to Colorado, I e-mailed Michael and suggested that I be the
band's archivist, making sure every show got taped.
That was six years ago. I've now got piles and
piles of Cowboy Junkies' tapes in my house, which is a beautiful
thing. This year, the band celebrates their 20th anniversary, and I
started thinking it would be good to get these tapes out there to
everyone. And so, 4thellamas.com was born.
Each month, I will put a show up for download. The
shows will be in high-quality lossless
.flac format. This
compresses the original sound files without any loss of data. You
will need to download the program and install it, but it is VERY
easy to use.
I am choosing the first two shows in the series.
After that, I plan to choose five shows each month and let everyone
vote on which one they want released.
Well, that's all. See you on the road sometime!
