Tune in to Wide Cut Country on February 14, 10am to noon MT, for a special rebroadcast of host Allison Brock’s tribute to musician Billy Cowsill, marking twenty years since his passing.
Cowsill was an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. He left a lasting mark on the Calgary music scene during his years in the city from the 1980s through the early 2000s. He died in his Calgary home in 2006.
He was only 58 years old.
“The week after Billy passed, I was down in the old CKUA studio in Calgary every day, doing live interviews and phoners with industry people, friends, and family of Billy,” Brock says.
Brock spoke with more than a dozen people while assembling the tribute, including Susan Cowsill, Joe Ely, Jeffrey Hatcher, and Neil MacGonigill.
“Everyone I asked said, ‘when do you need me?’ Everybody was in,” she says. “It shows you how much effect he really did have on the scene.”
Normally she did all her interviews live on air. But for this, Brock wanted to do something special and significant.
“For a week I had about three interviews every day. Then I was editing them and picking the music and putting it together. I’d never done that before.”
She wanted to make sure she honoured Cowsill properly.
Best known as a member of The Cowsills, the family band behind several hit songs in the 1960s, Billy Cowsill moved to Canada in 1975. He spent time in Yellowknife, Edmonton, and Vancouver, before settling in and out of Calgary, where he founded several bands and mentored young musicians, including a teenage Colin James.
“He was really, really important for the Calgary music scene,” she says. “He had a huge impact on it. He raised the bar so high that the whole scene got lifted from him.”
Cowsill was also Brock’s friend. They met in the mid-1980s when Brock was working at a local radio station and Cowsill was still relatively new to Calgary.
“Once that connection was made, we never let the thread break,” she says. “He was true blue. What you saw was what you got. He was incredibly loyal. He was a great, great friend.”
It isn’t easy to do a live radio tribute for someone you love.
The late David Ward, a beloved CKUA host and program director, ran the board for Brock during the show.
“When we started the show, I got really emotional,” she says. “You can hear it if you listen. No one but David could have helped me get through it.”
“I remember him looking at me across the board, like, ‘is she going to lose it?’ And I thought, ‘no, I can keep it together.’”
And she did. Now, two decades later, Brock’s tribute gives listeners another chance to reflect on Cowsill’s legacy.
“Having him come on the scene and be in Calgary full-time was the best thing that ever happened to the roots scene in the city,” she says.
Tune in to Wide Cut Country on February 14, 10am to noon MT, for this special rebroadcast honouring Billy Cowsill’s life and music.
Billy Cowsill, singing “True Love Ways”:
