Instances of animals behaving weirdly are often reported after one has suffered the loss of a loved one. And if you have had something inexplicable happen to you in one of these circumstances, I know you will be affected by this song. Susan Cowsill lost her brother Barry in the flood waters of Katrina. When she was about to sing this song for us, last September at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, she set it up by telling this tale. She said Barry always wanted to come back as something with a very long life, like a strong majestic oak tree. But instead, Susan said, he came to her as a dragon fly outside her car window. She was happy to have the visitation, in whatever form it took. When out of the ordinary things happens, you can thank the cosmos for slowing life down enough to make sure you take a look.
Susan has had some rough times and has poured the emotion into her work, into the Lighthouse album. She has been on the road a lot, and has added a new offshoot, as she has appeared on camera in HBO’s gritty series Treme. There is a lovely blog on HuffPo about Susan’s set during April's French Quarter Fest written by Karen Dalton Beninato. Susan and Russ Broussard are playing St. Louis tonight at Off Broadway. If you go, tell her we sent you. And here goes, Susan Cowsill with her band: Russ Broussard, Sam Craft, Jack Craft, and Mary Lasseigne. I predict there won’t be a dry eye in the house. This is the Music Fog version of “Dragon Flys.”
- Jessie Scott
