The Cowsills In Magazines

VICKI PETERSON & JOHN COWSILL | Long After the Fire

2025, Label 51 Recordings

Genre: Country / Folk / Rock Style: Country, Alt-Country, Country Rock, Folk Rock, Soft Rock, Pop Rock

Two musical legends coming together in holy matrimony is no new thing. Actually, two musical legends engaged in marriage and making music together is pretty common as well, but there are always those collaborations that work well together, and then those that work great together - the duo of Peterson and Cowsill ... the epitome of great together. Let's rewind a bit and focus on these two gifted musicians separately. John Cowsill's entrance into the professional music realm began in the mid-late '60s when he finally joined the 'family band,' The Cowsills, taking his position on drums coming in on the band's debut self-titled full-length via MGM. The success of The Cowsills gained rapid fame with hits such as "The Rain, The Park & Other Things," "Indian Lake," as well as, famously, the title song from the soundtrack for the legendary musical, Hair. Over his iconic career, John Cowsill has worked performing and recording with Jan and Dean, toured as a later member of The Beach Boys, playing drums, keyboards and sporadic lead vocals alongside original members, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston (Brian Wilson's tour replacement since 1965), and has also led vocals for The Smithereens intermittently. An additional little-known fact: he was also the percussionist and backup vocalist on Tommy Tutone's hit, "867-5309/Jenny." He has been in bands with Dwight Twilley (with his sister Susan), and more recently, as part of the line-up with his wife and actor Bill Mumy (Will Robinson - Lost in Space) in the band, Action Skulls, cutting two albums since 2017.

On the flipside of Peterson and Cowsill is the iconic and illustrious (and beautiful) Vicki Peterson, known mostly as a founding member and lead guitarist of the '80s new wave/power pop band, The Bangles (still active). She is also notable as a fill-in member of The Go-Go's and the alternative power pop/punk legends, Redd Kross in the '90s, as well as part of the '90s indie rock/power pop supergroup, Continental Drifters, and the folk rock duo, Psycho Sisters (with Susan Cowsill). Though Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill have held a multi-decades-long friendship, it was in 2003 that the two would marry, and though they have created music together on a professional level before and since then, it wasn't until 2025 that they would release their debut record as a duo, being the first time ever that these two musical legends have been billed on an album project with each their respective names. Long After the Fire was released in April of 2025 as an official Record Store Day release, marking the very first release with regard to either artist via Label 51 Recordings. Goldmine's fascination with both recording artists is doubled down with the issuing of this incredible album, and when we discover great music, the responsible thing for us to do is share it...

Vicki Peterson & John Cowsill performing live. Photo credit: Pam Springsteen

Providing media coverage of an album doesn't always entail exposing every single nook and cranny - it would be unfair of us not to leave somethings for you to discover on your own. However, we are committed to giving you everything you need in order to have a clear-cut overall scope of the album. Therefore, we have carefully dived into the record and have compiled highlights - four out of the 12 tracks, providing you with what to expect within the entirety of Long After the Fire.

"Vagabond" - What this song represents is an immediate shot back in retrospect to the purity of '70s outlaw country. There is really nothing 'modern' about the sonic character of the song, which is a huge attractant when it comes to this genre in these times. It is rudimentary and foundational with regard to its orchestration and production value — using the fundamentals for a sound that resonates with classic era goodness; not a keyboard of any type in sight, just vocals, guitars, bass, drums and Dave Pearlman's luscious pedal steel. Moreover, John Cowsill's lead vocals fit this genre of music with utter seamlessness and his sporadic harmonies with Peterson are a match orchestrated in Heaven. A Bill Cowsill composition.

"Come To Me" - This beautifully written semi-ballad presents the best of both worlds with regard to the production and song structure. It moonlights as a ballad but uses explosively fuller sections to enhance the emotive quality of the songwriting. Vicki Peterson takes the lead vocals here, and her tone is fitting in every way, shape and form. It is an alternative country production that borders on an Americana/soft rock undertone, full of celestial melodies that fluctuate in and out of weightier rock-tinged passages. What this does is keep the song from monotony, exemplifying the experienced skillset of an incredibly seasoned songwriter, so thank you for that, Barry Cowsill.

"Downtown" - Another Barry Cowsill creation; what a refreshing injection into the album's song sequence. This is really a pure power pop song, and something that, again, fits John Cowsill's vocal performance 'to a T' (and you wonder why he's guest-fronted The Smithereens). It is a mid-tempo-driven, hooky pop rocker that will either inspire you to get off your ass at the bar and dance, or roll down your car window with the volume at 10 while you drive down the Sunset Strip for a night out in the L.A. atmosphere.

"Ol' Timeless" - The album ends with this tugging-of-the-heartstrings country/folk ballad performed flawlessly by Peterson at the helm with a sensitive and emotional vocal performance. The song is supported by merely acoustic guitar, auxiliary percussion, and John Cowsill's MiDi cello, adding the cherry on top of the overall heartwarming character of the song. Many artists and album producers don't take into consideration just how important it is to choose a song sequence correctly, especially how an album is introduced and how it is brought to a close, but the choice to use this song to put the album's track-list to rest was perfection.

Long After The Fire is, in a sense, an homage to John's brothers, Bill and Barry Cowsill (b.1948 - d.2006, and b.1954 - d.2005, respectively), whose past songwriting and compositions make up every selection on the album. Label 51 Recordings was wise to put out the duo's first-ever studio effort, just as much as Peterson and Cowsill were wise to give them the project. The young but increasingly influential record label has been issuing some impressive releases, but this has to be in their top tier of album projects, especially for this year. To top it off, Paul Allen did a fantastic job producing this record. The album is available on vinyl LP (on a cool translucent green colored disc) in a gatefold with a commemorative OBI hype strip, and on compact disc album to boot, and both sound incredible! This is definitely a must-have for 2025 ... or any year that comes after. -GM