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The best advice while attending next week's edition of Louisiana Crossroads is to check your genres at the door. As their new CDs indicate, Mark Meaux and Susan Cowsill perform songs that defy any attempts to force-fit them into any musical category.
On their "Honey Slides" CD, Meaux and the Bluerunners play songs that are too Cajun to be zydeco, too zydeco to be Cajun, a French waltz with Sonny Landreth-like guitar and generous helpings of blues, rock, country, rockabilly and more scattered throughout.
Cowsill's "Just Believe It" disc explores life and love with easy-on-the-ears, yet powerful vocals and haunting lyrics, backed by a '60s pop sound, country, rock and more.
Perhaps it's best to rename this diverse concert Louisiana Gumbo. The audience is sure to enjoy every drop.
"These nights will bring together some leading lights of Louisiana's musical community in a meaningful way," said Todd Mouton of the Acadiana Arts Council. "They'll be guesting on each other's songs, sitting in, collaborating.
"These shows will offer opportunities to experience great music and musicianship up close and in some totally unique arrangements. Our state is so lucky to be home to talents like these, and these gigs will provide us all with a chance to thank Mark, Susan and their very musical friends for all the great music and good times over the years."
Louisiana Crossroads, a concert and discussion series presented by the Acadiana Arts Council and Lafayette Economic Development Authority, presents An Evening With Susan Cowsill, Mark Meaux and Friends. Guest musicians include guitarist Chris Knotts and Lafayette natives Rob Savoy on bass and Cowsill's husband, Continental Drifters drummer Russ Broussard.
Meaux and Cowsill perform a duet, "Ghost of a Girl," on "Honey Slides," the Bluerunners first CD since the "Le Grand Bleu" disc of 2001. Nine originals highlight the 13-song CD, with cuts like "Working Man's Zydeco," an accordion, rubboard and drum mix reminiscent of the early raw soul of Clifton and Cleveland Chenier. "I Got You" and "Lune de Minuit" feature more of the Landreth-like lap steel guitar of Will Golden.
Since 1991, the Bluerunners have blended the Cajun and zydeco sounds of their Lafayette roots with punk, rock and other sounds and won rave reviews from critics nationwide. The band includes Meaux (lead and rhythm guitar, mandolin, fiddle), Adrian Huval (accordion), Golden (lap steel guitar), Cal Stevenson (bass) and Frank Kincel (drum).
Special guests on their new CD include Mike Chiasson (rubboard) and Mitch Reed (fiddle).
Cowsill draws on more than four decades of singing and touring experience. In the 1960s, Cowsill was part of her family's popular band, The Cowsills, who produced Top Ten hits like "Hair," "We Can Fly" and "The Rain, the Park and Other Things."
She retired at the age of 12, but returned in the' 80s to sing harmony on Dwight Twilley's "Girls." The '90s brought a Cowsills reunion, along with guest appearances with Hootie and the Blowfish, Jules Shear, Kate Jacobs and Giant Sand.
But Cowsill won critical acclaim as a vocalist with the Continental Drifters.
Gambit Weekly called their hit, "Rain Song," "the most heartbreaking musical moment of 1999."
"Just Believe It," Cowsill's first solo recording, was recorded at Dockside Studio in Maurice. Contributors include Lucinda Williams, Adam Duritz, Meaux and Huval of the Bluerunners and banjo player Richard Burgess.
An Evening with Susan Cowsill, Mark Meaux and Friends
7 p.m. Wednesday, Sliman Theater for the Performing Arts, New Iberia (also on KRVS 88.7 FM)
7 p.m. Thursday, Vermilionville Performance Center
Tickets: $10, $8 for Acadiana Arts Council and Vermilionville Members, $5 for seniors and students 25 and younger with an ID
Information: 233-7060, 369-2300
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