Susan Claire Cowsill (born May 20, 1959;

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes ...

) is a musician, vocalist and songwriter.

The Cowsills

Cowsill began her musical career with

the Cowsills The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island, six siblings noted for performing professionally and singing harmonies at an early age, later with their mother. The band was formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill Cowsill, B ...

in 1967; she is the youngest member of the Cowsills and the only daughter of parents Bud and Barbara Cowsill. She made her debut on ''We Can Fly'', the Cowsills' second

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

album, released in early 1968. Her debut solo vocal was a song called ''Ask the Children'', featured in the Cowsills' third MGM album, ''Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools''. Her contribution to the Cowsills' backing vocals made her, upon her ninth birthday, the youngest person to be directly involved in a top ten hit recordKen Hoffman
"Hoffman: Singer Susan Cowsill is famous for one word"
''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'', June 3, 2009. when " Indian Lake" made the Top 10 in the early summer of 1968. In 1969 she contributed to the vocals in what would become the Cowsills' biggest hit, '' Hair''. She became known for her performance of the line, "and spaghetti'd" which she sang with a squeakiness in her voice that she still uses when she performs the song live. Susan was initially relegated to playing the tambourine, but by the time she left the group in 1971 (shortly after the release of their

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

album ''On My Side'') she had learned to play other instruments; in an episode of the short-lived ''

Barbara McNair Barbara Jean McNair (March 4, 1934 – February 4, 2007) was an American singer and theater, television, and film actress. McNair's career spanned over five decades in television, film, and stage. McNair's professional career began in music dur ...

Show'' she was seen playing bass guitar. In 1978, she reunited with the Cowsills (without Bill and Barbara) to work on an album of new songs. The album, tentatively titled ''Cocaine Drain'', was produced by Chuck Plotkin, but was not released until 2008. She again reunited with brothers Bob, Paul and John as the Cowsills in the 1990s, to work on another album of original songs. The album, ''Global'', was released in 1998. She and her brothers Bob and Paul appeared as the Cowsills as part of the 2016 Happy Together tour, playing 58 dates.

Solo career

Music

Cowsill signed briefly with Warner Bros. Records in 1976, releasing two singles, including revival of 1971 Sixto Rodriguez song "I Think of You". Beginning in the early '80s she worked as a backing vocalist for varying artists including Dwight Twilley,

the Smithereens The Smithereens are an American rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drum ...

Carlene Carter Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith. As of 2020, since 1978, Carter has recorded 12 album ...

Mike Zito Mike Zito (born November 19, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. He is a co-founder of Royal Southern Brotherhood that features Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie W ...

, and

Hootie & the Blowfish Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band ...

. During this time her songwriting skills blossomed, and several of her songs have been covered by other artists. By the early 1990s, she had developed an affinity for Americana-style music, which in 1991 led to her joining the Continental Drifters, further honing her songwriting talents. She occasionally appeared in a duo with bandmate Vicki Peterson (formerly of

the Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including " Manic Monday" (1986), " Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), "Hazy Shad ...

), calling themselves the Psycho Sisters. (Peterson subsequently married Susan Cowsill's brother

John Cowsill John Cowsill (born March 2, 1956) is an American musician, best known for his work as a singer and drummer with his siblings' band The Cowsills. He has been a drummer and vocalist for The Beach Boys touring band, which featured original Beach B ...

, who currently plays drums for the touring version of

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

.) Cowsill permanently relocated to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

by 1993. In 2004, on the heels of a rare Christmas snowfall in New Orleans, Cowsill wrote and recorded ''Crescent City Sneaux'', contrasting the peace of that snowfall with the disaster of Hurricane KatrinaDave Hoekstra
"Jostled by Katrina, Cowsill tours on"
''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', October 27, 2005 . and has been described as an "anthem" for survivors of the hurricane. She has also made guest appearances on others' albums including

Hootie and the Blowfish Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band ...

's 2003 self-titled release, Paul Sanchez's 2008 album ''Exit to Mystery Street'',

Giant Sand Giant Sand is an American musical group from Tucson, Arizona, United States. Its most constant member is singer-songwriter Howe Gelb. The group started as Giant Sandworms in the late 1970s post-punk and paisley underground scenes. They later ...

's 1992 release ''Glum'', and A Fragile Tomorrow's ''Beautiful Noise'' (2008), ''Tripping Over Nothing'' (2010), and ''Be Nice Be Careful'' (2013). By 2005, Cowsill had released her first solo album, ''Just Believe It'', on her own Blue Corn indie label. The Susan Cowsill Band's "Covered In Vinyl" performances have featured classic rock albums played live in their entirety. Two album releases have been compiled from these shows: ''Live at Carrollton Station: Covered In Vinyl Series Vol. 1'', released in 2007, and ''Vol. 2'' in 2009. A portion of proceeds from CD sales have benefited New Orleans charities. Two digital albums from subsequent performances, ''CIV: Duets'' and ''CIV: Neil Diamond'' (recorded in 2010) were made available in 2012. The CIV band has included New Orleans guitar virtuoso Jimmy Robinson (Woodenhead, Twangorama), Pete Winkler (Motorway), Caleb Guillotte ( Deadeye Dick), Derek Huston, Paul Sanchez, and many others. Cowsill's second solo album, ''Lighthouse'', was released in 2010 with support from the New Orleans musicians' organization Threadheads. It is a concept album in which she reflects on her losses, mainly through Hurricane Katrina and the deaths of brothers Barry and Bill. The album features harmonies from her surviving brothers (Bob, Paul and John) as well as appearances by Jackson Browne and Vicki Peterson, and was released May 18, 2010. In 2012, Cowsill,

Freedy Johnston Freedy Johnston (born Frederic John Fatzer in 1961) is a New York City–based singer-songwriter originally from Kinsley, Kansas. Johnston's songs are often about troubled loners, and cover topics like heartbreak, alienation, and disappoint ...

, and Jon Dee Graham, working together as the Hobart Brothers and Lil' Sis Hobart, released a collaborative album entitled ''At Least We Have Each Other.'' In August 2014, after playing together for more than 20 years, Cowsill and Peterson released their first album as the Psycho Sisters, entitled ''Up on the Chair, Beatrice''.

Television

Cowsill made numerous appearances with her family on many variety shows in the 1960s and early 1970s including a solo appearance on ''

The Dean Martin Show ''The Dean Martin Show'', not to be confused with the ''Dean Martin Variety Show'' (1959–1960), is a TV variety- comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to th ...

''. She and her band performed as themselves in the HBO drama '' Treme'' (2011, season 2, episode 8 titled "Can I Change My Mind"), set in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Personal life

Cowsill’s home and belongings (including a sizeable amount of Cowsills memorabilia) were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Her brother

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

stayed behind and became one of the victims of the hurricane; his body was not found until shortly after Christmas 2005. The day before Barry's funeral, she learned her oldest brother Bill had succumbed to illness in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

. She paid tribute to Barry on her latest CD with her version of his song "River of Love". Despite her losses, she remains a New Orleans resident and still performs regularly with her band at Carrollton Station, and more recently at New Orleans live venue Chickie Wah Wah. She married fellow band member and drummer Russ Broussard in July 2003. She has one daughter, Miranda Holsapple, from her marriage to musician Peter Holsapple. Her sister-in-law is

The Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including " Manic Monday" (1986), " Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), "Hazy Shad ...

guitarist Vicki Peterson.

References

External links

Official website

MySpace site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowsill, Susan 1959 births Living people Singers from Rhode Island American women singer-songwriters American women rock singers American rock songwriters Musicians from New Orleans Songwriters from Rhode Island Singer-songwriters from Louisiana The Cowsills members 21st-century American women