In September, Russ and I snuck off to Austin, Tx to record an album with our other “family” band, The Hobarts (Jon Dee Graham, Freedy Johnston, Andrew Duplantis, Susan, Russ).  It’s fantastic.  It’s a very live record, with very few overdubs and nary a “correction.”  The album has a release date set for February 28!  Look for us to tour in support it around that time, and be sure not to miss us if anywhere nearby.

The real reason for this blog though is for us to express our gratitude to all of you for your support through this year.  It’s not just companies like HBO who help us do what we do, but each and every one of you who came to one or more of our shows, purchased any of our music, called radio stations requesting any of our songs, or recommended us to others you know.  It all adds up to…us feeling very grateful and thankful.  So, in that spirit we’d like to share a couple Christmas songs of us for you to have for these holidays.  Feel free to share them with anyone who you think would like either.  Just click on that link there, and select download.  And just in case you were recently hacked or virused, the two songs are my The World at Christmas Time,” and “The Grinch” from one of our Christmas Covered in Vinyl shows a couple/few years back at the Carrollton Station.  Enjoy and have a WONDERFUL holiday filled with grace, gratitude, kindness, love, and peace.

Much love,

Susan and Russ

Now for some much needed r & r before learning about 30 songs for our next show in Covington, LA where we’ll perform a Summer themed “Covered in Vinyl” (of sorts) show at the Trailhead.  We’ll be back in time to catch the next episode of Treme, then prepare for our next showing on the following episode (season 2, episode 10).   Love, Susan

I only have windows into this story, like the way Barry would jump onto a stage and there was no getting him off of it without pliars. One night Jeff and I were singing Elvis’ Suspicious Minds at Carrolton Station and Barry, who had jumped up midway through, kept singing the bridge that brings you back into the chorus. Finally we improvised, “We’re caught in this song. It’s gone on way too long. Because you won’t stop singing, Barry.” Even that didn’t stop the song. He and Susan were in the chart-topping family band The Cowsills, whose life story was turned into The Partridge Family, a blessing and a curse as Barry was never comfortable with the former child star stigma. If you ever heard him perform you know, he was meant to be a rock star.

There’s an oil spill anniversary coming up, events planned all over town. The public grew weary of Katrina anniversaries, and I’m sure the same thing will happen with the oil. But just because it’s hard to hear doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. After Katrina we lost friends, many lost family, and it doesn’t take an anniversary to remember it. New Orleans is raising hundreds of thousands through the NOLA Japan Quake Fund because this city remembers what it feels like to wonder if you could really have been forgotten so soon.

HBO’s Treme debuts in a few weeks, and not to break the fourth wall but Susan and her husband Russ Broussard invited us to be extras in her episode. It was worth standing with a warm bottle of not-beer for hours at Carrolton Station to hear Susan sing and pretend it was four years ago. I kept wondering, would we go back if we could? And is this what I wore in ’07? What was I thinking? Wait, I’m still wearing it.

Susan expresses where we are and where we were perfectly in her song Crescent City Snow. So did Barry, with River of Love. R.E.M. just gave us the New Orleans tribute Oh My Heart, recorded here with New Orleans musicians including Shamarr Allen who played the French Quarter Festival and is in Kazakhstan as a musical ambassador for the State Department this week. This is him teaching his free music clinic through Silence is Violence last week. You should probably buy all of their CD’s, since this story is theirs to tell.

At best I’m an extra, and I have been blessed to be one.
–Karen Dalton-Beninato, www.twitter.com/kbeninato

To read the story at source, with the included photos, visit:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/river-of-love-susan-cowsi_b_847314.html

And on a separate note, The Hobarts featuring Lil’ Sis have posted 4 new videos for their kickstarter campaign. Only 10 days left to join in! Follow the link in the Hobart blog entry and look for them.

Deeper cuts: Ann Powers picks 25 songs you might not have heard in 2010
December 24, 2010 | 6:00 am

I have always been vocal in my opposition to year-end Best lists, but lately I find myself becoming somewhat addicted to them. My change in attitude, I think, is related to the realization that my list really doesn’t matter -– it’s just a blood drop, spreading out until it’s imperceptible within the busy, empty space of the hive mind.

I’ve presented the world with my pop Top Ten, and I’m not worrying about it anymore. What follows is not a “best” list, but a scrapbook of sonic memories from a seemingly bottomless musical year. It features efforts that made an impression on me, though most never came anywhere close to the mainstream.  These songs are available on those old things called “albums” as well as via the newfangled “Internet download.” Seek them out.

Sharon van Etten, “A Crime,” from “Epic”: A fearless woman bares what matters -– her soul -– in this confessional lament.

Chocolate Genius Inc., “Lump,” from “Swan Songs”: Many hits used profanity this year. This song by Marc Anthony Thompson, seasoned examiner of viscera, meant it.

Ryan Bingham, “Depression,” from “Junky Star”: That word has a few meanings; this young Academy Award-winning country outlaw gets to all of them.

Champagne Champagne and Thee Satisfaction, “Magnetic Blackness,” from the split single with “Bird Lives!”:  Seattle, formerly ruled by messy-haired hard rock boys, has found its hip hop soul in super-fresh crews like these.

Susan Cowsill, “River of Love,” from “Lighthouse”: This ragingly heartbroken version of a song by her brother Barry, who died in Hurricane Katrina, anchors Cowsill’s fierce tribute to the family’s adopted hometown.

Das Racist, “Ek Shaneesh,” from the mixtape “Shut Up, Dude”: Joke rappers or serious political subversives? Both. Also, fans of both Rumi and the Notorious B.I.G.

Sam Amidon, “How Come That Blood,” from “I See the Sign”:  This plain-voiced troubadour presents himself as an innocent wandering through the old, weird America, but those synths he triggers show that he’s a canny bastard.

Villagers, “Home,” from “Becoming a Jackal”:  A bewitching folk-rock retelling of the classic family romance.

The Lonely Forest, “Turn off This Song and Go Outside,” from “The Lonely Forest” EP: Indie rock bliss the way it should be done, plus the title makes a great suggestion.

Cody Chesnutt, “Come Back Like Spring,” from The Believer magazine music issue CD “We Bumped Our Heads Against the Clouds”: This earthy little handful of well-crafted soul bodes well for a comeback from the outsider artist who once gave us “The Seed.”

Sade, “Babyfather,” from “Soldier of Love”:  Rock-steady sweetness from Our Lady of Quiet Miracles.

Aloe Blacc, “Femme Fatale,” from “Good Things”:  Few might have ever thought that this Velvet Underground classic could be reborn as lush retro-soul.  A tellingly eloquent reinterpretation.

Drive  By Truckers, “Daddy Learned to Fly,” from “The Big To-Do”:  Yeah, they’re a “Southern rock” band, but this is the best hard country song of the year.

Robyn,  “Call Your Girlfriend,” from “Body Talk”: This ultimatum from a melancholy other woman passes the Madonna test that so many others fail.

Massive Attack, “Flat of the Blade,” from “Heligoland”:  Bristol’s downtempo geniuses can still raise goosebumps with this paranoid slice, featuring a great vocal monologue by Guy Garvey of Elbow.

Fistful of Mercy, “Father’s Son,” from “As I Call You Down”:  Dhani Harrison takes the lead on this roaring blues by the singer-songwriter supergroup as his partners Joseph Arthur and Ben Harper chase him around the block.

Titus Andronicus, “The Battle of Hampton Roads,” from “The Monitor”:  A quarter-hour’s worth of Woody Guthrie-esque, totally punk, foaming-at-the-mouth majesty. Plus bagpipes!

M.I.A., “Lovalot,” from “Maya”: All the fuss over Ms. Arulpragasam’s personal life led many to forget that she’s at her best when creating and inhabiting powerful characters, like the teen terrorist bride in this song.

Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, “Ride Friendship,” from “I Love You! I Love You! I Love You and I’m in Love With You! Have an Awesome Day! Have the Best Day of Your Life!”: Art school weirdos screaming at the top of their lungs can be irritating, but this merry band from upstate New York makes it work.

Mirah, “NOLA,” on “Dear New Orleans”: One gentle West Coast girl’s attempt to understand the enormity of Hurricane Katrina, included on an outstanding compilation whose proceeds benefit Crescent City artists and other good gulf causes.

Eden Brent, “My Man,” from “Ain’t Got No Troubles”:  This Mississippi-raised ivory tickler deserves to escape the blues-festival box; she’s as dirty-sweet as any number of more fashionable retro-modern honeys, and more skilled.

Liz Phair, “U Hate It,” from “Funstyle”:  Laurie Anderson meets Dr. Demento in the indie queen’s kiss-off to critics.

The Extra Lens, “Communicating Doors,” from “Undercard”: Mountain Goats main man John Darnielle hardly ever writes a bad song. But on this collection of songs about bent and broken desire, his collaborator and fellow indie-pop reliable Frankln Bruno wrote my favorite. Great metaphorical hook.

The Books, “A Cold Freezin’ Night,” from “The Way Out”: Good-hearted sound collagists find happiness through audio thrifting, crafting modern fairy tales from the noises people have left behind.

R. Kelly, “Taxi Cab,” from “Love Letter”: Just in time for the holidays, Kells serves up some hot buttered love.

– Ann Powers

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/12/deeper-cuts-ann-powers-picks-26-songs-you-might-not-have-heard-in-2010.html

http://blurt-online.com/features/view/782/

Lighthouse by Susan Cowsill (51)
Too few people know that this member of the family Rock band The Cowsills (“Hair”) has gone on to a career as one of our sharper female singer/songwriters. This album features her clear voice and fine songs, plus a version of Jimmy Webb’s “Galveston.”

Once not so long ago, Rock by the over-50 crowd was the stuff of Rhino Records’ Golden Throats series — Mae West doing The Beatles’ “Day Tripper,” anyone? But, like so much else, it’s gotten better with age. So much better, in fact, that some of the year’s most satisfying Rock (and related) music was made by the over-50 crowd. Here are the 10 best of 2010, in alphabetical order:

Homeland by Laurie Anderson (age 63)
A magnum opus by this artist who combines electronic music, minimalism, political commentary, Rock rhythms and gorgeous melodies, it takes on post-Great Recession America with insight and humanity. “Only an Expert” is a song all should hear.

Lighthouse by Susan Cowsill (51)
Too few people know that this member of the family Rock band The Cowsills (“Hair”) has gone on to a career as one of our sharper female singer/songwriters. This album features her clear voice and fine songs, plus a version of Jimmy Webb’s “Galveston.”

King for a Day by Micky Dolenz (65)
Dolenz first met Carole King when she co-wrote such songs for The Monkees as “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Take a Giant Step.” Here, in great voice and with wonderful arrangements and first-class production, he returns the favor by covering her compositions from the 1960s and 1970s.

True Love Cast Out All Evil by Roky Erickson (63) with Okkervil River
Helped by a younger Austin Indie Rock group, the legendary, mentally troubled survivor of Texas Psychedelic Rock (13th Floor Elevators) was able to not just salvage forgotten older songs but fill them with renewed energy, relevance and glory.

The Union by Elton John (63) and Leon Russell (68)
You have to thank two other 60-plus artists, John’s songwriting partner Bernie Taupin and producer T Bone Burnett, for their first-rate contributions to this album. But John is emotive and schmaltz-free, and Russell also contributes several fine songs.

Praise & Blame by Tom Jones (70)
Jones’ forcefully energetic, dynamic voice has long been able to tackle any material — the late-career surprise has been how sensitively he handles different musical styles. On this Roots/Country album, he mixes judiciously chosen covers (a great version of Dylan’s “What Good Am I?”) with some evocative originals he co-wrote.

No Better Than This by John Mellencamp (59)
Always interested in populist Folk tunes about the state of America, Mellencamp has continued to strip his sound to better bare his gruff, plaintive voice. Working with producer T Bone Burnett and using one microphone and a mono tape recorder, he’s made an album that sounds new and relevant in its oldness.

Band of Joy by Robert Plant (62)
Too musically curious to just keep re-mining his Led Zep days, Plant and his expert Americana producer, Buddy Miller, put his love for all things Rock into a collection of atmospheric, mysterious originals and covers, like Low’s “Monkey.”

You Are Not Alone by Mavis Staples (71)
After recently having Ry Cooder produce a classic album for her, Staples turned to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy for this, which stays true to her Gospel sensibilities while adding some fine new material (Tweedy’s title song, for instance) to her repertoire.

My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky by Swans (led by Michael Gira, 56): Creative use of noise is one of Rock’s greatest contributions to popular music and Gira’s Swans have been in the forefront. But on their first album in 14 years, they find space for quieter, bluesy (and eerie) songs with penetrating lyrics that demand attention.

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-22351-our-beautiful-dark-listed-fantasies.html