20 years ago, the young Cowboy Junkies recorded the cult classic ‘The Trinity Sessions’, an album recorded in one day, on one microphone in Toronto’s Trinity Church.
With 20 years of recording and touring under their belts, they decided to revisit the church and see how the album would turn out being re-recorded with this experience behind them.
The format of the recording remained the same, a few hours rehearsal, a one-day recording schedule and the stunning acoustics of the Church; the main differences are the addition Natalie Merchant, Ryan Adams and Vic Chestnutt, and the recording has gone from one mic, to a full set up that sounds fantastic.
The original recording of the disc still holds up well, it’s a timeless album that sounds as contemporary today as it did in 1988.
The revisited album is equally strong but it sounds more complete, it’s still a quiet and slow affair but the songs and the performances have matured very gracefully. The addition of Merchant on vocals works particularly well, bringing an extra dimension to some familiar songs, the contributions of Adams and Chestnutt are equally striking, and all 3 provide subtle and wholly appropriate backing across the 12 songs.
The addition of a full DVD completes the package; the entire performance was beautifully filmed, and there’s a full documentary including interviews and discussions around the project. The DVD on it’s own is exceptional, but to bundle this with the audio CD, and to then package it all in a beautiful bound booklet makes this one of the best value releases of the year.
Those who know and love ‘The Trinity Sessions’ will need no further invitation, for those not to have succumbed to it’s charms, the revisited package is an essential collection. Very highly recommended.

Track listing
1 Mining For Gold
2 Misguided Angel
3 Blue Moon Revisited
4 I Don't Get It
5 I'm So Lonesome
6 To Love Is To Bury
7 200 More Miles
8 Dreaming My Dreams
9 Working On A Building
10 Sweet Jane
11 Postcard Blues
12 Walking After Midnight

£15.99