Continental Drifters

In late 1991, ex-Dream Syndicate bassist Mark Walton joined forces with New Orleans expatriates Carlo Nuccio on drums and Ray Ganucheau on guitar to launch the Continental Drifters in Los Angeles. Guitarist Gary Eaton, whose résumé already included stints with Giant Sand and Steve Wynn, and keyboardist Danny McGough, formerly of Liquor Giants and 7 Deadly 5, soon completed the lineup. The band quickly established a Tuesday-night residency at the Hollywood venue Raji's that drew an ardent local following.

Over the ensuing months the roster expanded to encompass auxiliary members such as ex-dB Peter Holsapple, his wife Susan Cowsill, and former Bangle Vicki Peterson. When McGough departed, Holsapple assumed the keyboard chair on a permanent basis. The group’s first release, the 1992 single “The Mississippi” on Bob Mould’s S.O.L. label, had been conceived as a teaser for an album nearly finished in 1993 but ultimately shelved after personnel shifts rendered it unrepresentative; by the time the single appeared, Cowsill and Peterson had become full-time members.

Once Nuccio and Ganucheau elected to return to New Orleans, the Continental Drifters resolved to continue, initially flying members across the country for engagements. The mounting cost and logistical strain prompted Walton, Holsapple, and Cowsill to relocate to the Big Easy themselves. Although Eaton eventually left, Peterson later followed to Louisiana. After Ganucheau exited, guitarist Robert Maché was recruited, and this configuration recorded the self-titled 1994 debut LP that received widespread critical acclaim. Following Nuccio’s departure, Russ Broussard joined on drums. Still without a major-label deal by 1997, the band issued the single “Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway” on the small Black Dog imprint; the full-length Vermilion arrived in mid-1998.

Holsapple and Cowsill’s marriage ended in divorce in 2000, yet they remained active together in the group. In 2001 the Continental Drifters delivered the new studio album Better Day along with the EP Listen Listen, which consisted of Fairport Convention and Richard Thompson covers. International touring in support of the EP was halted by the September 11 attacks, after which the band began to wind down. The long-shelved 1993 recordings finally surfaced in 2003 on Germany’s Blue Rose label under the title Nineteen Ninety-Three. By then the Continental Drifters had effectively disbanded, although they reconvened for a handful of shows marking the release and staged additional reunion performances in 2009. In 2015 Omnivore Recordings issued Drifted: In the Beginning & Beyond, gathering most of the material from Nineteen Ninety-Three, assorted rare early tracks, and a second disc of covers that included the contents of the Listen Listen EP.