Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill’s debut album, Long After the Fire, released on April 18, 2025, is a heartfelt tribute to John’s late brothers, Barry and Bill Cowsill. Blending Americana, country, and pop-rock influences, the album showcases the duo’s harmonious vocals and deep musical connection. Standout tracks like “Fool Is the Last One to Know,” “When Hearts Collide,” and “A Thousand Times” highlight the emotional depth and nostalgic resonance of the collection. The project not only honors family legacy but also marks a new chapter in Peterson and Cowsill’s collaborative journey.
Vicki’s connection to the Cowsills goes back decades to April 1978, when she first met the band she adored as a kid. “There was something about them that seemed really special,” she said. Over the years, that admiration turned into a lasting friendship, with Bob Cowsill becoming a mentor as the Bangles rose to fame. Eventually, her bond with John Cowsill deepened too, from a long-distance crush to marriage. “He was so inconsiderate — he married someone else right after I met him!” she joked. Now, all these years later, Long After the Fire is not only a collaboration between two musical soulmates but also a tribute to the brothers who helped shape both their journeys.
In addition to the new music, Eternal Flame: The Authorized Biography of The Bangles by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike offers a definitive chronicle of one of the most influential all-female bands of the 1980s. Drawing from exclusive interviews with founding members Vicki Peterson, Debbi Peterson, and Susanna Hoffs, the book gives an intimate look at the band’s journey from the vibrant Los Angeles club scene to international stardom. It explores their chart-topping hits like “Manic Monday” and “Walk Like an Egyptian,” their collaborations with artists such as Prince and Cyndi Lauper, and the internal dynamics that led to their 1989 breakup. Beyond the music, it sheds light on the challenges they faced as women navigating a male-dominated industry, highlighting their resilience and pioneering spirit. Eternal Flame isn’t just a tribute to the Bangles’ musical legacy — it’s a testament to their role as trailblazers in rock history.
We recently caught up with Peterson to talk about the inspiration and background behind Long After the Fire. During our conversation, I also asked her about what inspired the new biography. “I thought it was due time for the full story of the Bangles to be told, especially since so much time has passed since our last commercial hit — even our last studio album, which came out in 2017,” she said. “I want people to know more than just the superficial. I meet people all the time who know the Bangles or love the Bangles, but they don’t really know the Bangles. So I was hoping to get a little more depth of information out into the world.”
When Vicki and John began working on Long After the Fire, it was a project many years in the making — and one deeply rooted in love, memory, and music. “We actually had been talking about doing this for many, many years,” Vicki said. Life and touring schedules had kept them busy — John with the Beach Boys, Vicki with the Bangles, the Dream Syndicate, and the Continental Drifters. But fate intervened when John found himself in Memphis with their longtime friend and producer, Paul Allen. “Paul said, ‘Hey, you’re in Memphis, let’s go to Sun Studios and record.’ John’s like, ‘Okay, why would we do that?’” she laughed. But Paul pushed. “He’s like, ‘You’ve been saying you wanted to do this Dead Brothers Project for a long time; now let’s get it started.’”
That first session was recorded in the storied halls of Sun Studios. “They recorded ‘Is Anybody Here’ with those beautiful microphones in the atmosphere of Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison and all those beautiful ghosts swirling around. I think it really enhanced that track in kind of a magical way,” Vicki recalled. “That’s what got us started. One down, let’s go.”
From there, Vicki and John assembled a list of songs written by John’s late brothers. They chose favorites from Bill’s band Blue Shadows and unearthed songs from Barry’s catalog that had never been properly recorded. “We were huge fans of Bill’s On the Floor of Heaven album,” she said. “And there were a couple of songs of Barry’s that I just always loved.”
The recording process stretched across several years, with Vicki flying back and forth between New York and California. Despite the logistics, the project never lost its heart.
Emotionally, the experience was profound. “It was just a feeling of gratitude and absolute admiration for these two men who didn’t have particularly easy lives,” Vicki reflected. “They had their moment at the top of the world, but then everything fell out from under them. Health issues, substance abuse, emotional struggles — it wasn’t easy.”
Songs like “Vagabond” and “When Hearts Collide” hit especially close to home. “Barry sang ‘When Hearts Collide’ at our wedding as we walked up the aisle,” Vicki said, her voice thick with emotion. “John had a hard time singing it in the studio without breaking down.”
The sound of Long After the Fire has been described as Roy Orbison meets the Everly Brothers — a blend that came naturally to both artists. “We sat at the piano and worked out the keys, kind of arm-wrestled over who was going to sing what,” she laughed. “But once we got in the studio, it just flowed. Even though we haven’t done a lot of musical projects together over our 22 years of marriage, harmony is the most natural thing for us.”
Their differing styles — John’s structured approach to harmony and Vicki’s more chaotic creativity — created a rich, layered sound. “John was very trained in this harmony stack, where you follow the other vocals exactly. And I’m a little bit more chaotic,” she said. “So you get both on this record.”
Many of the songs came from rare recordings, demos, or even forgotten cassette tapes. “’Sound On Sound’ was a demo. ‘Ol’ Timeless’ was actually on one of Barry’s records, but it almost sounds like it was a demo; it was just a voice and a harmonium,” she said. One particularly special track, “Come to Me,” existed only as a live performance recorded on cassette. “Barry never recorded it, as far as we know. We had to digitize it, and we learned the song off of that cassette. It was one time Barry performed it at the Troubadour with John on drums, oddly enough. So, we took that one and played with it a lot. We created a whole different rhythm and atmosphere for that song, but it’s a gorgeous song.”
While most of the instrumental work was handled by Vicki, John, and Paul Allen, a few special guests, including Dave Pearlman on pedal steel and Jim Calire on piano and Hammond organ, helped flesh out the sound. Vicki herself played guitar, mandolin, and even bass on the record, a new but important challenge for her. “I’m not a seasoned bass player,” she admitted. “But I was determined to learn the melodic bass part on ‘Don’t Look Back.’ It’s very McCartney-esque, and it drives the whole song. It was really fun.”
Creating Long After the Fire brought plenty of tender moments and unexpected laughter. “The sweet ones were when I was watching my husband not be able to get through a vocal without getting emotional and breaking down, really just in honor and love of his brothers, which was so sweet and beautiful,” she recalls. “There was the time around the microphone with our son Will, who sang backgrounds on this record. It was really fun to have another generation of Cowsills on this.”
And when tensions got high, Vicki said, “Paul would just quietly press the space bar, and an image would come on the computer, and instead of being the graph of the song we were recording, it was a photo of a laughing horse or something just completely off the rails that would send John into hysterics.” She went on telling how Paul “would just show up with his phone and a picture of a laughing horse or a gerbil eating spaghetti on it. I mean, it just couldn’t be any more random than that.”
For Vicki, honoring Barry and Bill was the heart of the album. “Barry once said to me in our kitchen, ‘I just want my music out there.’ I remember him being so despondent about it. And I told him — okay. Message received.”
As for the future, Vicki hints that this won’t be the last project she and John work on together. “There’s definitely enough material for a Dead Brothers Part Two,” she said with a smile. “But we might try something new next time — maybe even writing together, which would be an adventure. Our styles are pretty different, but you never know until you try.”
At the core of it all, Long After the Fire is about connection — musical, emotional, and personal. “I want people to love the songs first and foremost,” Vicki said. “And I hope they hear something special in what John and I do together.”
Their performances are scattered across the country for now, often opening for the Smithereens, with whom John now tours as one of their lead singers. But the heart of the album and their journey is a testament to resilience, deep roots, and a love of music that never fades.
Long After the Fire tracklist:
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Fool Is the Last One to Know
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Vagabond
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Come to Me
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Is Anybody Here
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Sound on Sound
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Don’t Look Back
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You in My Mind
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A Thousand Times
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Embers
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Downtown
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When Hearts Collide
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Ol’ Timeless
