Susan Cowsill will perform songs from her highly acclaimed album Just Believe It.
Little Susan Cowsill, of the popular ’60s band the Cowsills, is all grown up. And fortunately for North Shore fans—including many soon-to-be fans— Cowsill is making a stop in Grand Marais on her upcoming tour. Between performances in major venues in Mandeville, Louisiana; Chicago, Illinois and others, is an evening at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. The Susan Cowsill Band will be appearing at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 11.
Some will remember Cowsill as a tiny flower child— she was just seven when she began her musical career, joining her brothers Bill, Bob, Barry, Paul, and John and her mother Barbara in the pop group the Cowsills in 1966. The Cowsills released six albums before disbanding in 1971 and Susan Cowsill took a break from the music business until the early ’80s when she began making a name for herself as a backup vocalist, performing with Dwight Twilley’s band and singing backup on albums by Hootie & the Blowfish, Giant Sand, the Smithereens, Carlene Carter, and Jules Shear.
According to Pandora.com, Cowsill’s career “moved into high gear” in the 1990s when she joined the “alt-country supergroup” the Continental Drifters. Cowsill earned high praise for her contribution to the Drifter’s album Better Day, with Pandora.com noting “Susan Cowsill’s Someday is perhaps the one tune that rises head and shoulders above the others with its spirited drive and a prickly 12-string guitar solo…” In 2004, Cowsill released her first solo album, Just Believe It, which also earned fantastic reviews. Rolling Stone wrote that on Just Believe It, Cowsill offered “…the hardy, heartbreaking sound of a bar band angel.”
The Washington Post said, “As good as Cowsill’s voice is, her smart emotional songwriting is her biggest asset.”
Another asset is her affection for her fans. Jane Ranum of Grand Marais has followed Cowsill’s career for several years and is amazed that an artist of Cowsill’s caliber is so accessible. “She is a very unique person,” said Ranum. “Most bands don’t ‘hang out’ with their fans. But her philosophy is ‘we don’t have fans, we have friends.'”
Ranum points out that Susan Cowsill fans are coming to the concert from as far away as Bath, England—and from just down the road in Grand Marais. The intimate Arrowhead Center for the Arts auditorium is the perfect setting for Cowsill and friends. All will enjoy Cowsill’s exceptional voice whether she is performing a classic Cowsills song, a cover of a timeless vinyl song such as U2’s With or Without You, or Cowsill’s own original works.
Cowsill’s songs form a beautiful array, ranging from the bittersweet Crescent City Snow and Who Knows Where the Time Goes to the upbeat I Know You Know. In the confident anthem Palm of My Hand, Cowsill boldly declares, “Nothing can stop me now….and it never could anyhow….”
A fitting refrain for a flower child come of age.
Call (218) 387-1284 extension 3 for reservations or visit www.boreal.org/music. The concert is hosted by Shiloh Productions and the North Shore Music Association.
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