When Cowboy Junkies hit the road in Ontario this fall, lead singer Margo Timmins will be clad in her signature baggy dresses, tights and boots, having defied marketers who once tried to inveigle her into miniskirts and a nose job.
Fronting a quartet with songwriter-guitarist and big brother Michael Timmins, younger brother Peter Timmins on drums, and Michael’s kindergarten pal Alan Anton on bass, the singer (ranked on People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” list, in the ’90s) was determined to keep the focus on the band’s distinctive mélange of blues, country, folk, rock and jazz, even when showbiz dangled movie roles and hair-care commercials.
“My brothers protected me, so I was very lucky,” she says, “because the industry does like to gobble up women and turn them into…
