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Paul Cowsill is a carpenter by day and rock star by night.
The 56-year-old front man of the legendary 1960s pop-rock band, The Cowsills, is going to have to get used to putting down the saw and picking up the microphone as the band tours North America in the next few months.
He's getting the hang of it.
"It's awesome," he said from his farm in central Oregon.
"We just got back from Vegas and it was 110 miles per hour. And then I fly back (here) and boy, it really settles you down after that concrete jungle."
What makes it even easier is that he's travelling with some familiar faces -- his brother Bob and sister Susan. The siblings teamed up a couple of years ago to embark on the well-trodden concert circuit that was their lives as children.
The Cowsills were formed in 1965 and initially comprised of Barry, Bill, Bob and John Cowsill. Paul, Susan and their mother Barbara were later additions to the band.
As the group rose to fame through the 1970s, the family members ranged in age from seven to 18 years old. And so did their fans.
That's why it's a surreal experience for Cowsill to meet with fans backstage. They bring 50-year-old scrapbooks of themselves and the band.
"It's all kids remembering when they were little kids again," he said with a hearty laugh.
"I think that's what's really cool about our music -- the fan base has grown up with us."
Also cool is The Cowsills were the inspiration for The Partridge Family television show.
"They were going to have Shirley Jones do it," he said of the actress who went on to play Shirley Partridge, the matriarch of the family.
"That was kind of a deal breaker for us. We had our own mom."
In the Cowsill family, blood runs deep and is the core of the band.
The group quit touring after the members began having families.
"We had a childhood of always leaving," he said of a school track record that saw the siblings attend 15 different schools in the span of 12 years.
"I never wanted that for my kids. I wanted them to go to their prom and make friends for life. And they do, so it all worked out well."
But now that the kids have flown the coup, the Cowsill siblings are ready to focus on their music again.
"We were ready to do it," he said.
At the time the three Cowsills decided to join ranks again, Bob was playing clubs in L.A. and Susan had started her own band.
A reunion wasn't in the horizon until a tour manager stuck a Post-It Note on Bob's microphone during an intermission at one of his shows.
Now, Cowsill wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, he recommends the secret family recipe to other musicians.
"My suggestion is to legally change their name and become brothers or brothers and sisters," he said.
It's worked before and The Cowsills are going to continue riding their wave.
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