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Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills performs May 6, 2022, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. The Cowsills are touring as part of the Happy Together Tour, which stops Wednesday, Sept. 2, at the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids.

When a band writes and records tracks for an album, the audience expects to experience new tunes when that band tours.

The Cowsills, which crafted the solid "Rhythm of the World," its first album in 24 years, isn't your average band.

When the group performs Wednesday, Sept. 2, at the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids as part of the Happy Together tour, the Cowsills will not play any tracks from their latest album.

"We play the hits and we play covers," vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Susan Cowsill said while calling from her New Orleans home. "We're a party band. We're not out there playing our new originals. We loved making 'Rhythm of the World.' It was an organic process. What you do when you write a bunch of songs is you make an album. Making 'Rhythm of the World' was not a career move or a comeback. It was working on an album that we really enjoyed making. But when it comes to our shows, we know people come out to see us because they want to rock out with us. We're an amazing cover band. That's how we started out."

The Cowsills formed in 1965 as a family band that crafted pop-rock with lush harmonies and catchy melodies. "The Rain, The Park & Other Things," Hair," "Indian Lake" and "We Can Fly" are some of the band's hits.

"We'll play the familiar songs and we'll play covers that we love," Cowsill said. "We play (The Hollies') 'Bus Stop,’ (John Denver's) ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ and (The Fortunes') 'You've Got Your Troubles' and (Lulu's) 'To Sir With Love.' It's ironic since The Fortunes are on this tour."

The Cowsills inspired the hit 1970s comedy series "The Partridge Family," which was about a family band loosely based on the clean-cut group, which emerged out of Rhode Island.

"'The Partridge Family' and that show's success was pretty darned interesting," Cowsill said. "It was obvious where the show came from."

The Cowsills had no interest in being part of a sitcom based on their lives.

"The idea of us having a show was out there, but we were already too busy as kids," Cowsill said. "They wanted us to be the people in the show. It didn't work out for a myriad of reasons. But we adore the 'Partridge Family' cast. We were friends with most of them. Their original drummer, Jeremy Gelbwaks, lives in New Orleans and he's one of my best friends. 'The Partridge Family' was good for us since I don't know if people would react to us in such a visceral manner if not for 'The Partridge Family.' "

Susan Cowsill (left), Paul Cowsill and Bob Cowsill of The Cowsills perform May 6, 2022, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans.

Fond memories Cowsill, who performs with her vocalist and multi-instrumentalist brothers Bob and Paul Cowsill, looks back fondly at her unique experience as a kid.

"When I think about those days, I wouldn't necessarily call what I had a childhood," Cowsill said. "But it was great. The memories are amazing. I remember once driving with my dad when we picked up (the Beach Boys' vocalist-guitarist) Carl Wilson, who was hitchhiking in Los Angeles. He had the acetate (a one-off test record used by recording artists from the '50s and '60s to check audio quality before mass production) of the then-new Beach Boys album. That was just a day in the life back then. My brother Bill was friends with (Beach Boys vocalist-keyboardist-songwriter) Brian Wilson. Brian wasn't happy. He was a genius who was stuck in his head, and he could just never be satisfied. It was fascinating growing up around that and recording and performing."

The Cowsills enjoy going out on tours like the Happy Together jaunt because they're on the road with many of their friends.

"It's a good time going out on a tour like this," Cowsill said. "We get to perform and we get to catch up with some people and see some great live performances."

The Turtles, the Association, the Troggs, former Chicago vocalist Jason Scheff, Gary Puckett, the Fortunes, former Archies vocalist Ron Dante and the Vogues also are part of the Happy Together tour.

"Expect a show full of hits," Cowsill said. "It's fun going out there and just pleasing the audience."