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Susan Cowsill
When: 8 p.m. tomorrow
Where: Concerts at the Crossing, Unitarian Universalist Church, 268 Washington Crossing-Pennington Road, Titusville
She used to be known for her squeak.
Susan Cowsill, the youngest member of the popular '60s band the Cowsills, started her journey into music at 8 years of age, a squeaky-voiced talent who won hearts with her smile and song.
Now her squeak has been repaced with an undoubting command of emotion and power. Her voice still cracks a bit, but it's not the sound of a child.
It's the sound of a woman, strong in sounds and heart who has spent a lifetime in music and giving pieces of her soul to audience members.
Tomorrow night, you can witness her power. Cowsill is the featured performer at Concerts at the Crossing in Titusville.
And in contrast to her many years of singing with bands, including the Cowsills, and the Continental Drifters, she's now performing solo.
She's come a long way since her popular hits with the family band, which inspired TV's "Partridge Family." "Indian Lake" and "Hair" are still part of her past, but Cowsill has moved on to a future that includes covers suh as U2's "With or Without You."
Other numbers of note include "Nanny's Song," a heart-tugging ballad that showcases her deeply personal side, a side that makes listeners stop and lean forward in awe.
"I don't want to leave this Earth," she croons. "I don't want to leave this Earth."
For anyone who's lost someone they loved, or feared to let go, "Nanny's Song" is a must hear if your heart can handle it.
Lucinda Williams is a guest artist on the track in Cowsill's debut solo album, "Just Believe It."
But she still can bring the rock. In "Sing a Simple Song," Cowsill brings out her rough, more funky side with belting choruses, bass and trumpet backups and occasional screeches throughout the lyrics.
There's more to know about Cowsill, however.
When her longtime hometown of New Orleans was devastated by Hurrican Katrina, Cowsill lost one of her brothrs, Barry. She also lost her home. She took those experiences with her, which you can recognize in her song "Crescent City Snow."
"Hold our memories in one hand, so tight that you won't let 'em go," she sings. "And in the other hand we pray the wind and the panic and the rain will all turn to a soft and quiet, gentle peaceful snow."
She ends the song with, "I can't wait to go home."
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