A Forever Family For the Continental Drifters the story is

BY BRETT MILANO

The Flatlanders once claimed they were “more a legend than a band,” but the Continental Drifters are a little of both. Anyone who followed the Drifters in the ’90s-’00s can vouch for the volume of terrific songs, the onstage spirit and camaraderie, and the inexplicability that a band this good never got massively big. And for a band that doesn’t technically exist anymore, they’ll be all over Jazz Fest—playing at least three club shows (the finale will be second Sunday at Chickie Wah Wah) in addition to their first Fair Grounds show in more than a decade.

“We’ve been not a band for so long now that getting back together to play this music feels like a really great thing,” longtime member and multiinstrumentalist Peter Holsapple said. “When we don’t have to be a band all the time, we wind up enjoying each other’s company tremendously. And when you’re not a band, you think that people don’t remember when you were one. But it turns out that they do.”

While everyone is usually up for a reunion, logistics tends to be the problem. So, the fact that they’ve pulled it off now (after a one-week reunion at South by Southwest last year) brings smiles all around. “Each Drifter reunion

Not Over

is like a Christmas holiday,” says Susan Cowsill. “I look forward to this one and all the joy it will bring. I love these people—my Drifters are forever family.”

Adds drummer Russ Broussard, “It feels like we have a seventh member that’s playing us—like I’m not drumming in the Drifters, it’s drumming me. That happens so rarely in music, but with this band it happens 90 percent of the time. The nuances of drumming change with every band I play in, whether I’m driving a band or riding with a band. I forgot that the Drifters don’t take effort, so it’s about learning to relax again.”

“I’ve always seen the Drifters as this Hydra,” says Holsapple. “We’re all independent heads attached to this same body. I’ve been in bands, we’ve all been in bands, we all know what that’s like. But for me at least, this is a far more visceral thing.” Adds bassist Mark Walton, “The band has changed considerably since the beginning, but somehow, it’s still the same exact band; it still has the same commitment, the same love and attention to detail. So, it always feels sad again when we separate.”

The band playing Jazz Fest is the Vermilion album lineup, with a few familiar New Orleans faces and a few who’ve drifted elsewhere. Longtime partners Cowsill and Broussard are touring with the Cowsills, and showing up in other local situations, when not playing in their own band. Robert Mache (guitar) is in Lulu & the Broadsides. Vicki Peterson (vocals/guitar) is still a Bangle, but just toured Europe as guest lead guitarist in the Dream Syndicate—also Walton’s regular band since it reunited a few years back. And Holsapple’s in North Carolina, where he made the solo album Game Day a few years back, played a few recent gigs with his old dB’s partner Chris Stamey, and devoted his energy to more songwriting. Holsapple’s album included a song called “Continental Drifters,” which said a lot about the lingering affection its members feel for the band. “I cried when I heard it,” Walton says; and they may even work it up as a band for Jazz Fest.

Defining their music has always been a tough one. All the members have songs in the repertoire, and they’ve got some vast collections to pull cover tunes from. The ’60s pop element got stronger when Peterson and Cowsill joined the band, but the open-road Americana element never went away either. English folk-rock came into the mix as well, but how they’ll juggle those elements depends on the moment. “We’re slaves to our songs,” says Holsapple. “I think the fact that there’s been so many writers in the history of the band makes it hard to plug into a self-evident style. If you take Susan’s songs alone, she’s got ‘Someday’ which is rockin’ to the gills, and then something like ‘Cousin’ which is intensely heavy—and that’s just one person’s songs. If anything ties it together it’s that we can take those songs and make it of a piece.”

They’ve had some memorable Jazz Fests in the past, including the time they were slotted opposite Phish’s Fairgrounds debut and drew a respectable crowd anyway. Of all the shows they’ve played, the most epic ones may have happened in 2015, at Tipitina’s and a week afterward in Los Angeles. For the first time they had all 10 official Drifters onstage at the same time, going through a sizable chunk of the band’s repertoire. The shows went past four and a half hours—beating Springsteen’s longest one by at least 30 minutes—and could have gone later still if the plug hadn’t been pulled. The notion of doing that again brings a few jokes and demands for onstage bathroom facilities. “This year we’re definitely stopping at three hours, 59 minutes,” Broussard says.

But sadly, it can never happen exactly that way again. Last year the band had its first loss in the ranks, with the passing of Carlo Nuccio in August. It was Nuccio who convinced the band, then based in Los Angeles, to move to New Orleans. Though he left in 1994 (and handpicked then-Bluerunners member Broussard as his replacement), his presence still looms large in the band he co-founded. “I think he’ll always be in the ranks,” says Walton. “There’s always this specter in our heads, making sure we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. He was a largerthan-life guy, so without him it’s hard to continue.” Holsapple had Nuccio on his first solo album as well as the Drifters. “He drove me pretty hard and made me a better writer and musician so I could keep up with him.”

Adds Broussard, “Had I not joined this band I probably wouldn’t have done a deep dive into Carlo’s drumming and his songs; how he feels rhythm and groove and backbeat. And Susan and I would probably never have met. So, man, losing him... I just had a day where it hit me again. It’s like everything has changed, like a 400-year-old oak tree in front of my house is no longer there.”

It may be a while before everybody’s schedules can align again, but meanwhile there’s a few things underway. Catalogue reissues are on the table; you might even see some of their albums on vinyl. Writer and musician Sean Kelly has a book about them coming out, and there’s even a strong possibility of a tribute album. So as Madonna would put it, maybe there’s finally enough love. “I think the love has always been out there from the people who’ve heard us and appreciate what we do, and that’s what enables us to continue,” says Walton. “So, I don’t think the story is over.” O

Friday April 30 at 11:25 a.m. Lagniappe Stage