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Think of 1960s family pop group the Cowsills and you think of “The Rain, the Park & Other Things” - and a general sense of good vibes. But it’s been an especially tough year for the family, which broke out of Newport, R.I., with a string of harmony-driven hit singles.
Two Cowsill brothers, Barry and Bill, died in the past year. Barry, who spent time in Providence in recent years, was found drowned in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. At the time, eldest brother Bill - the lead singer of the original group - was ailing at his adopted home in Calgary. After a long battle with emphysema he died in February, on the same day the other siblings were gathered in Newport for Barry’s memorial service.
Susan, the youngest of the family, has had some tough times as well: She and husband/drummer Russ Broussard lived in New Orleans and lost most of their possessions in the hurricane. The tragedies hit Susan just as she was beginning to work on her first solo album, “Just Believe It.” After laying low for a time, she’s back on the road.
“Part of me didn’t want to do it, but the alternative is to not do anything, and that wouldn’t serve any life purpose at all,” she said from a tour break this week. “I feel responsible to stay out there and keep going, because otherwise I’d be holed up somewhere licking my wounds.”
In the first of several area appearances this week, she and her band are set to sing the national anthem tonight at Fenway Park - something she did with the other Cowsills during the World Series two years ago. It wound up being their last appearance with Barry.
“I know that’s going to have an effect,” Cowsill said. “It already does when I sit here thinking about it. But I’m ready, with a box of Kleenex in my bag.”
But she says it’s a good-luck sign as well, since the Red Sox’ losing streak was reversed the last time the Cowsills sang.
“The Red Sox are almost like family now. We were the wake-up call game, so we got to be heroes. If they’d kept losing, the Cowsills could have been the new curse.”
She and Broussard are former members of the cult-sensation roots-pop band the Continental Drifters. Her solo debut continues in that vein, with a thoughtful singer-songwriter vibe (Lucinda Williams is among the guests) that draws heavily from the atmosphere of New Orleans. Though the couple had to move after the flood and lived in Nashville for a time, Susan says she has no intention of leaving the Big Easy.
“We played at the Jazzfest this year and we could really feel the support that day,” she said. “On a community level, with the small community that we are, New Orleans is doing well; but on the global level we’re still pretty screwed. It looks like the president has forgotten some of his promises - and he has a habit of doing that.”
Susan Cowsill plays Thursday at Johnny D’s, Somerville, 617-776-004. Also Friday at Narrows Center for the Arts, 16 Anawan St., Fall River. For tickets, $12 and $14, call 508-324-1926.
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