Susan Cowsill Re-emerges with LIGHTHOUSE Album

MUSIC NEWS -  Susan Cowsill has announced the release of her second solo album, Lighthouse (out May 18, 2010 via Threadhead Records).  Her new set is said to once again embody the timeless qualities of heart, soul and craft that are already known to those familiar with Cowsills solo debut Just Believe It.

Susan, you may know, first entered the pop-culture music spotlight at the age of eight, as the youngest member of the 60s musical family the Cowsills.  Since then, in adulthood, she continued musically as a member of the beloved alt-pop supergroup the Continental Drifter. In 2005, Susan made an inspired solo debut with Just Believe It (on Blue Corn). But the album's creative triumph was sadly overshadowed by the intrusion of real-life events, the deaths of Susan's brothers Billy and Barry, and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which temporarily displaced Susan and her family from her adopted hometown of New Orleans.

Lighthouse was written over the last four years during our recovery from Hurricane Katrina, she says.  As expected, the songs on this record are pulled from the very deep well of this most life changing experience. "Having lost 99.9% of our material and emotional belongings, and one whole human being, my brother Barry Cowsill, there was much to say and feel and express. It has taken all this time to pull ourselves back together to even be able to form comprehensible sentences never mind full on songs."
She adds; "I would say that the music on this record is best described as songs about the loss of a world and a lifetime that no longer exists. It is about the uncertainty of the days, weeks and months that were ahead of us. And at the same time, it is the music of hope and faith and survival. The renewal of our city, our families and most importantly our souls."

Cowsills new songs reflect the hard-won lessons of her recent experiences, while maintaining the unmistakable sense of optimism and spirituality thats always been at the heart of her work. That spirit is reflected in the grit of such emotionally vivid originals as ONOLA, Sweet Bitter End, The Way That It Goes and Avenue of the Indians, which features guest vocals by longtime friend Jackson Browne.
In addition to Susan's compositions, Lighthouse includes an impassioned reading of the late Barry Cowsills River of Love, which features soaring harmonies by Susans brothers Bob, Paul and John Cowsill, as well as sister-in-law (and Bangles/Continental Drifters member) Vicki Peterson, and renowned session guitarist Waddy Wachtel, who began his career playing with the Cowsills back in the 1960s. Another highlight is a distinctive, stripped-down reworking of the Glen Campbell/Jimmy Webb classic Galveston, which demonstrates Susans status as a peerless interpretive singer.

Cowsill further explains; "Going through Katrina was most certainly like experiencing a death. The time in between the storm and the making of Lighthouse was the grieving period, and the recording of the music was the funeral, laying it all to rest, saying goodbye, and starting over.  So here we are, in our new world. And this world is filled with beauty and light and excitement, and the new found knowledge that the present is really all that we have, because everything can change in the blink of an eye . . .hey . . .that sounds like a song comin on . . . gotta go!"

Comments

[Gianluca]

Susan Cowsill is a tremendous and overlooked talent. I was lucky enough to interview Susan and husband Russ Broussard in New Orleans. Here's a link to our conversation in case anybody's interested.

http://www.sittingwith.com/archive.html#c24

[Jane Ranum]

Having been lucky enough to have spent some time musically and personally with Susan, I can honestly say she is one of the nicest most talented people I have ever met in my 53 years. Also having the opportunity to hear the majority of the songs on Lighthouse done live in seperate intimate settings has to be some of the most wonderful memories I have. I will carry them in my heart for the rest of my life. If anyone deserves to succeed, it's this lovely lady!

[Barb Meade]

Susan's talent knows no bounds. No telling to what heights she still has to soar. I've met her several times and we've shared a lot of laughs and a few tears. She is everything she portrays in her music. Sincere and true. A consummate artist.

[Stuart]

Susan is the most overlooked artist in music. Her performances are always joyful, even when singing about the recent tragedies her family has experienced. Her vocals and songwriting talent sadly will never be heard over the din of the next American Idols, whose collective talent doesn't even approach Susan's.