|
With the release of their second album, Seems Lucky To Me, Canada's Blue Shadows are receiving rave reviews and healthy dividends. After eight weeks, the CD has already sold more than their previous album, On the Floor of Heaven, sold in a whole year. And because of that, bandleader Billy Cowsill, 49, is on cloud nine.
"I feel extremely blessed," said Cowsill. "Especially since this is my second time around the block here. I've had a career once and now again I get another one."
Orginally from Newport, Rhode Island, Cowsill is also remembered for his musical career with The Cowsills (the original Partridge Family), a band he started with his mom and siblings. Cowsill was in his early 20s when he received acclaim for such mega-hits as "Hair," but the experience didn't sit well with him.
"Although they were good records and I'm very proud of "Hair," I thought that it was pretty poppy and I wanted to be a little bit more rock 'n' roll. I thought the group had a lot more musical potential than that."
Perhaps Cowsill's road to self-discovery really began when he decided to quit the band.
"We were playing Las Vegas and I thought it sucked," said Cowsill. "It was disgusting. Too much schmaltz and bullshit, you know."
Real History
Although The Cowsills were certainly well-known, a crooked accountant had managed to pilfer most of the bands earnings and Cowsill left the group with only a few grand in his pocket. He started on a journey that would lead him all over the United States and Canada. He finally got in touch with the real history of music by hooking up with people like J.J. Cale and learning all he could from them. It was sort of an awakening from him.
He also changed his lifestyle when he joined Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotic Anonymous in 1980.
"I just decided it would be an honor to be present at my own existence. Metaphorically speaking, it's like, 'Here's your garden, Adam and Eve, just don't touch that tree. It's not sad for me because there are enough trees around to keep me happy. I don't miss it at all."
After a lengthy stink in Vancouver country-pop act Blue Northern in the '80s, Cowsill formed Blue Shadows in 1992. Aside from Cowsill on vocals and guitar, the quartet includes drummer J.B. Johnson, former Legendary Hearts bassist Barry Muir, and guitarist-vocalist Jeffrey Hatcher.
One element that stands out in Blue Shadows is the harmonic interplay between Hatcher and Cowsill. Fate seemed to lend a hand when Cowsill's former guitarist hit the road to play with Raffi and Hatcher came to audition for the vacant spot. The results was nothing less than magical.
"We opened our mouths and started singing together and my hair stood on end," said Cowsill.
"We never worked at it - it just came out naturally. I believe there is a kindred thing on a spiritual level. I would say we are soulmates and heartmates."
|
