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NEWPORT - Mike Warner and Frank Dwyer own copies of the last music Barry Cowsill recorded.
They just hope he gets to finish the project.
Cowsill, 51, has been missing for two months in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He left Newport in August for a stop in New Orleans, where he previously lived, planning to head to Los Angeles to enter a substance-abuse rehabilitation center.
Since a Sept. 2 phone call to sister Susan, he has not been heard from.
In 2004, Cowsill recorded several tracks, with Warner on drums and Dwyer producing, at Dwyer's SoundScape studio in Newport. Cowsill played keyboards, guitar and bass and sang all vocals. Some of the tracks are re-recorded versions of songs on his 2001 CD "As Is" and others are new.
The songs, such as "River of Love" and "My Car Don't Lock," are largely power pop with strong melodic hooks and crunching guitar chords. "Kid" has a ragtime piano flavor, with Cowsill employing a fake trumpet effect with his vocals.
Warner has played drums professionally since he was a Rogers High School student in the 1970s. He's toured with country singer Tom Russell and Rhode Island favorites Roomful of Blues.
"But I think this is the best thing I've ever played on," Warner said.
Cowsill, whose family band the Cowsills rose to fame in the 1960s, has lived an unpredictable lifestyle. But Warner said Barry is a master in the studio, sort of a Brian Wilson type whose musical skills outweigh his eccentricities.
"He's an absolute musical whiz in the studio," Warner said. "He knew what he wanted to do. Barry has the best pop sensibilities. In the studio, he was all business but a lot of fun."
Warner and Dwyer plan to hold on to these Barry Cowsill sessions for now.
"This is probably 99 percent complete," Warner said. "We're still holding out hope that Barry will be back one day to finish it."
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