“Long After The Fire” sees Vicki Peterson of The Bangles team up with her husband John Cowsill, drummer/vocalist for The Beach Boys for over 23 years. Their debut album as a duo, is a set of Americana songs written by John’s late brothers, Barry and Bill Cowsill. A new single from the album entitled ‘Is Anybody Here’ is out now, with Peterson revealing that “it is the song that kicked off the entire ‘Long After The Fire’ record. John and Paul Allen recorded this track at Sun Studios in Memphis, without me, in the spur of the moment and absolutely set the template for the album. At this stage, John and I were considering calling the project Dead Brothers!”
Cowsill recalls “I was playing with the Beach Boys in Memphis. Paul Allen called me up and asked if I wanted to record at Sun Studios, reminding me that I had been talking about recording an album of my late brother’s songs. We recorded ‘Is Anybody Here’ that night and it is the most Roy Orbison-sounding song on our album. It was so fitting and magical to be in that room with all the photos of Elvis, Orbison, Jerry Lee and Cash on the walls and being surrounded by the whole vibe. It was exciting to sing on all the old ribbon mics.You could almost hear all the other artists’ voices coming thru the slap echo tape machine. I could certainly feel all that history when I was out in the tracking room singing.”
The album is released on CD and digital formats on 18th April, with the LP being made available the prior weekend as a Record Store Day 2025 exclusive and can be pre-ordered here.
TRACKLISTING
1 Fool Is The Last One To Know
2 Vagabond
3 Come To Me
4 Is Anybody Here
5 Sound On Sound
6 Don’t Look Back
7 You In My Mind
8 A Thousand Times
9 Embers
10 Downtown
11 When Hearts Collide
12 Ol’ Timeless
Vicki Peterson is a founding member of The Bangles, one of the most successful groups of the 1980s with multi-platinum and gold albums. Her voice and lead guitar work are heard in everything from ‘Austin Powers’ to ‘Stranger Things’. She later wrote and performed with her good friend (and eventual sister-in-law) Susan Cowsill as The Psycho Sisters, soon finding themselves absorbed into the critically acclaimed New Orleans songwriters collective The Continental Drifters, with whom they remain active to this day. Throughout the ’90s, she appeared on albums with Tom Petty, John Doe, Hootie & The Blowfish, and Belinda Carlisle, while also touring with The Go-Go’s on their 1994-1995 reunion. The Bangles subsequently reunited and issued further albums. John Cowsill began working in clubs, singing and playing drums with his family from the age of seven. The Cowsills became a worldwide sensation in the late ‘60s, playing numerous TV shows and gigs. They enjoyed several Top 20 hits that included ‘Hair’ and ‘The Rain, The Park & Other Things’. He performed on the 1981 Tommy Tutone pop hit, ‘867-5309 (Jenny)’ and also toured with Jan and Dean before becoming a mainstay of the Beach Boys touring band on guitar and piano, before finally sitting at the drum kit for over two decades, playing 180 concerts per year and making numerous major TV appearances. John has also performed live and/or recorded songs with Bob Dylan, Mamas & Papas, Harry Chapin, Maroon 5, and many others. He is also currently one of the lead singers for The Smithereens and the touring drummer for Peter Perrett (The Only Ones).
Here’s that single:
