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It’s almost 20 years ago, following the demise of the Blue Northern band, that Billy Cowsill began touring through the West as the frontman in Trainwreck, a super hot roots band that dipped into what rapidly became known as “dead guys” music.
For all that time, fans all over Alberta and B.C. have been waiting for a recording that documented Cowsill’s extra-ordinary vocal interpretations of tunes made famous by the likes of Hank Williams R., John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Marty Robbins and Roy Orbison.
The Blue Shadows, of which Cowsill was an integral player, kept the tunes alive in concert but chose not to cut any of them, opting instead to focus on original material, so the wait was extended through the ‘90s.
After moving to Calgary from the coast a few years ago, Cowsill started working with some of the “young guns” of that scene under the moniker The Co-Dependents, and once again songs like Devil Woman, That’s Alright, and Long Gone Lonesome Blues were kept alive for seriously rabid audiences.
Well, all the waiting is over as a very live and inspired 16-tune set from the band that also includes Steve Pineo, Ross Watson and Tim Leacock hit the indie stores this past weekend.
Those aforementioned tunes, plus a few from folks still alive and reasonably well such as Chuck Berry, Jagger/Richards and Bob Dylan, make Live at the Mecca Café, named after the little joint on the edge of Calgary where it was cut.
There are also a couple of choice originals from both Cowsill and Pineo.
CKUA’s Allison Brock played a few cuts on Wide Cut Country Saturday morning and the phones at Southside Sound, Sound Connection and Blackbyrd started ringing with inquiries.
“It’s flying out the doors here in Calgary,” says Pineo’s manager, Neil MacGonigill, who also co-produced the album for his label, Indelible Music.
“The Megatunes store went from an initial order of 50 to 300 in a couple of days,” MacGonigil added.
With Pineo’s Perfectly Good Friendship disc also selling well, it’s another example of local and regional acts making a serious impact on the marketplace.
Local fans will be able to catch a bill featuring Pineo, The Co-Dependents and a Beautiful Joe reunion all on the same stage in mid-March at Festival Place. Until then, the album will have to do.
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