Susan Cowsill

Susan Cowsill

Just Believe It is Susan Cowsill's first-ever solo album, but you probably already know her.

The singer/songwriter made her initial mark on popular culture at the tender age of eight with The Cowsills, the family pop group that scored Top Ten singles "The Rain, the Park and Other Things," "Hair" and "We Can Fly" and served as the real-life inspiration for TV's fictional Partridge Family. More recently, she won the hearts of discerning listeners with roots-pop supergroup The Continental Drifters, in which Cowsill's impassioned vocals and personally-charged songwriting graced three widely-acclaimed albums and countless riveting live performances. Cowsill's vocal talents have also appeared on recordings by acts as diverse as Dwight Twilley, Redd Kross, The Smithereens, Giant Sand, and Jules Shear, while her compositions have been covered by The Bangles and Hootie and the Blowfish.

Cowsill's much-loved prior work can now be viewed as a prelude to the stunning solo achievement of Just Believe It. The long-gestating collection marks a musical and personal milestone for the artist, embodying the same qualities of musical craft and emotional nuance that distinguished her work with The Continental Drifters, while adding a deeper, more resonant and unmistakably personal edge. The CD features guest appearances by Cowsill admirers Lucinda Williams on the hauntingly bittersweet "Nanny's Song"; Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz, who duets with Cowsill on the infectious, lyrically upbeat "Palm of My Hand," (which also features Cowsill's former Drifters bandmate and real-life sister-in-law, Bangle Vicki Peterson) Along with 13 new Cowsill originals, Just Believe It includes a stirring cover of Sandy Denny/Fairport Convention classic "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," which compellingly underscores Cowsill's knack for cutting straight to the heart of a song.

Just Believe It features Cowsill's road-toughened combo, which merges a seamless rock sensibility with an organic sensitivity that echoes the singer's own. The group includes Russ Broussard (Continental Drifters) on drums, ex-Bluerunners/Cowboy Mouth bass player Rob Savoy and Chris Knotts, formerly of Flatware, on guitar. The music maintains a solid grounding in the organic honesty of rural folk and the catchy melodicism of '60s pop, while dipping into the fluid R&B grooves of Cowsill's longtime hometown of New Orleans.

Having recently lost home and possessions to Hurricane Katrina, Susan and band are but temporarily parted from the Crescent City. In the months to come, Susan expects to be back to help build the fallen city up again with her fellow New Orleans musicians.

Whether she's delivering a heart-tugging ballad or belting out a punchy rock tune, Cowsill unfailingly connects with a song's emotional core. Rolling Stone offered praise for Just Believe It as "The hardy, heartbreaking sound of ... a bar-band angel" in the prime of her singing and songwriting life." The Washington Post proclaimed "As good as Cowsill's voice is, her smart, emotional songwriting is her biggest asset." All Music Guide raved "Cowsill has stories to tell and she tells them with a skill and vigor that never lets artifice get in the way of cutting to the emotional truth of her subjects. She can also sing them with a voice that's both supple and full-bodied, pretty when she wants it to be and a gale force of emotion when that's needed.

Quite simply, debut albums are rarely as moving, as revealing or as accomplished as Just Believe It. This is masterful music from a major talent."

Watch for Susan Cowsill's first solo CD, Just Believe It, available now on Blue Corn Music.

Just Believe It