Ryan Cowsill, son of original member Bob, is the current keyboard player in the 60’s family-band sensation, The Cowsills.
Emily Wells: Ryan, you are not an original member of The Cowsills, because of your age. How did you become involved in your family’s band?
Ryan Cowsill: I was playing at local pubs in Los Angeles with my dad (Bob) for a few years. Paul was The Cowsills keyboard player at the time. One day in 2006 my Dad said Paul was done with keys and only wanted to do vocals. So I was put in the band.
Emily Wells: You’ve mentioned to me that you had a completely different career path before becoming a current member of The Cowsills. Can you tell me more about that career and what made you take a different direction in life?
Ryan Cowsill: I was a baseball player first. Then I was pursuing stand-up comedy in LA but was stuck in a rut of “bringer shows.” That’s where they will give you stage time but only if you help fill the crowd. I never knew if the bookers liked my comedy or if they liked that I brought a bunch of people. I decided to focus only on the band after six years of treading water in comedy.
Emily Wells: Are you involved in other musical endeavors besides The Cowsills?
Ryan Cowsill: Nope! Just the family band.
Emily Wells: What is it like being on the road and touring? What is your favorite part? What is your least favorite part?
Ryan Cowsill: My favorite part is hotel rooms. I could spend my whole life just staying in different hotels. My least favorite part is the sound checks. Some people like them but for me it’s like going to the dentist.
Emily Wells: What is your favorite Cowsills song to perform?
Ryan Cowsill: “Hair”. I never appreciated how rockin’ that song is until I was in the band.
Emily Wells: What surprised you the most about your career with The Cowsills that you didn’t expect before you joined?
Ryan Cowsill: How well we all get along. Not only as a family but as a band. It can be a big decision to join a band with family. I remember thinking geez I hope this doesn’t destroy my relationship with my father, you know those stories. But it just gets better every year. We all laugh a lot especially when things are not quite up to par. Like showing up to a show and there is no green room so they put you in the softball teams locker room. Something like that could really tick some bands off. But we just laugh and laugh.
Emily Wells: What is your favorite concert venue? What is your favorite city to visit?
Ryan Cowsill: The Cutting Room in New York City. And New York City.
Emily Wells: What is your favorite fan experience? Is it rewarding to see how many people love The Cowsills?
Ryan Cowsill: I don’t have any one experience but yes it’s always great to see the fans. If we are the plant, then they are the water. Or as Paul says “without you, there’s no us.”
Emily Wells: What do you like to do in your spare time when you’re not with the band?
Ryan Cowsill: Watch TV
Emily Wells: Do you have a musical icon who inspired you?
Ryan Cowsill: Not really. Rage Against The Machine always inspired me though.
Emily Wells: Do you have a cool or funny story from a concert you’d like to share?
Ryan Cowsill: One time a promoter introduced us individually to take the stage like a basketball team. “On keyboards Ryan Cowsillllll!” That was the strangest thing I’d seen in live music. As a former athlete I loved it though.
Emily Wells: What would you like to tell people about being in The Cowsills that they may not already know?
Ryan Cowsill: During the songs I don’t play keyboards on cuz not all the songs have keyboard, I aimlessly press buttons and act like I’m doing something important. I’m not. I actually want to have an old pong video game on my keyboard screen to play until the song is over.
