Interview: Cowboy Junkies Michael Timmins speaks out about new anti-war cd - Page 2

Some critics have said that the art community overall was fairly silent in response to the Iraq war and the questions surrounding it. Do you agree that there really hasn't been a major musical tide of protests songs like we saw in the 60s and 70s in response to Vietnam?

There has certainly been a lot of artists speaking out about the war, but maybe not as many as there were in response to Vietnam. But, unfortunately, it is still early. There will be plenty of time for protest in the coming years (albeit it might be a little too late at that point). I also think that one of the reasons for that lack of protest is that there is so much confusion and mis-information and emotion mixed up in the issue. The tie in to 9/11 (no matter how misguided) is hard to shake. Our purpose for putting out this album was not so much as an anti-Iraq War statement, but more as an anti-violence statement (a large umbrella, which the Iraq War would neatly fit under).

Are you worried about any kind of backlash in the US, like that received by the Dixie Chicks when they spoke out against the Iraq war?

Not really. Our general audience is generally pretty liberal and at the very least it is fairly open minded. I would like to think that someone who is truly in to our music would also be open to the notion of freedom of speech and even engaging us in a dialogue (at a concert or through our website) if their views happened to be different than ours. In any case, what kind of backlash could there be? Do you think that KROK might not play us on the radio?

Fair point.What's the view from the ground in Canada as far as popular support for the Iraq war?

From the very outset Canadians as a general population and as a government have been against the invasion. I was very proud of how our prime-minister handled the situation. It hasn't been an easy stance for us. We are inextricably entwined with the USA (personally, politically, historically, economically, culturally..you name it, we are tied together) so to many people this lack of support for our friends to the South felt a lot like abandonment and, to some, treachery. But stronger than those feelings was our innate sense that the invasion was, if not, morally then, at the very least, strategically wrong.

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