Cousins plays bluesy music on Sunday at Towne Crier
by Laurel Tuohy - Special to the News Times- 11-23-2001
Hilary Cousins is full of Surprises.
By combining genre-defying acoustic guitar with thoughtful lyrics, this singer/songwriter is surprising audiences around New England. He is also surprising audiences by being a man. The musician with the misleading name performs Sunday at the Towne Crier Café in Pawling, NY.
His voice is a little like Jakob Dylan's (of The Wallflowers) and his style is along the lines of Neil Young or Van Morrison.
Cousins' songs are poetic and romantic. The bluesy tracks have been playing locally on college and community stations and getting a positive response. His stirring lyrics expressed in a soft voice can be lulling and chant-like, or more demanding and thought provoking.
Married and living in Bethlehem, Cousins is fond of writing about current events and how they affect people. The graceful compositions are centered around searching for answers to life's difficult questions.
About eight years ago, he decided to pursue folk music because he was searching for answers "and that's what folk songs do."
The standout track on the album, "Continents Collide," is "If I Let You Down" about losing a loved one and finding a way to move on. His song "Broken Man" is about the realization that you are the cause of your own problems. It's about a friend who spent his life in and out of prison, partly because he's haunted by demons from his childhood, says Cousins.
The acoustic guitarist says he attracts mostly an older crowd but that "anyone can get into the spirit of the music." Described as pop-rock, alternative folk, and modern alternative, Cousins says his songs can be "heavy" and touch on "religious issues and themes."
A part time musician, he spends his days immersed in media production and freelance writings, and his nights involved with the local music scene. He says, "my goal is to get my music out and to be locally recognized."
Cousins is opening for famed singer/songwriter, Jane Siberry, featured in a separate story on this page. A past winner of Canada's "People Choice Awards," Siberry has worked with everyone from Peter Gabriel and the Indigo Girls to k.d. Lang.
