Susan Cowsill

Susan Cowsill entered the music industry at age seven in 1966, when she united with brothers Bill, Bob, Barry, Paul, and John plus mother Barbara to create the pop outfit the Cowsills. Although widely known as the real-life inspiration behind the television series The Partridge Family, the group produced several notable hit singles such as "Hair," "Indian Lake," and "The Rain, the Park and Other Things," along with six albums before splitting in 1971, the year Susan turned 12. The Cowsills later staged occasional reunion performances and delivered a warmly received new album, Global, in 1998, yet Susan largely withdrew from the business during the 1970s aside from issuing two little-known singles on Warner Brothers in 1977. Momentum returned in the early 1980s as she concentrated on session work as a backing vocalist and soon became a permanent member of Dwight Twilley's band, contributing to several of his releases including the 1984 album Jungle, which yielded the hit single "Girls." Her profile expanded significantly through the 1990s when she supplied backing vocals for Hootie & the Blowfish, Giant Sand, the Smithereens, Carlene Carter, and Jules Shear while also joining the alt-country supergroup the Continental Drifters, whose lineup included former Bangles guitarist Vicki Peterson and Peter Holsapple of the dB's. Susan married Peter Holsapple in 1992, and she and Vicki additionally developed the side project the Psycho Sisters, which played club shows and released a single. Between 1994 and 2001 the Continental Drifters issued three albums and an EP, attracting strong reviews and a loyal cult audience in the United States along with greater commercial success across Europe. After divorcing Peter Holsapple in 2001, Susan left the Continental Drifters later that year. She next assembled a solo band with Chris Knotts on guitar, Rob Savoy on bass, and Russ Broussard on drums; Broussard, a former Continental Drifters member, married Susan in 2003, and together they formed the zydeco band the Bonoffs, which performed periodically in their adopted hometown of New Orleans. In 2005, thirty-eight years after first appearing on record, Susan Cowsill released her debut solo album, the critically acclaimed Just Believe It, featuring guest contributions from Vicki Peterson, Lucinda Williams, and Adam Duritz.