Making Beautiful Music Together
Bangle Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill honor the family songbook
Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill might be recognizable names to casual music fans. But when it comes to really understanding the musical scope of the husband and wife – that’s a different story.
Peterson was a founding member, guitarist and vocalist of the Bangles, along with her sister Debbi (drums) and Susanna Hoffs (guitar, vocals). Best known for a catchy song complete with a video that played up the song’s novelty (“Walk Like an Egyptian”), a ballad that epitomized ‘80s soft rock (“Eternal Flame”) and a Prince-penned song that is heard somewhere at the start of every week (“Manic Monday”), it’s often overlooked that the Bangles started off as a garage rock band with harmonies that could cut through rock. My old turntable could barely handle the soaring voices of “I’m In Line,” from the band’s self-titled EP. Over a guitar riff borrowed from the Beatles’ “Taxman,” the sisters Peterson, Hoffs and bassist Annette Zilinskas (later replaced by Michael Steele) took the lessons learned from the Mamas and the Papas and the Grassroots mixed them with some grit. A song later, Vicki nearly snarled though her song “Want You.”
The band’s move to Columbia Records eventually yielded mainstream hits, but their full-length debut, All Over the Place, refined their sound. It might be a stretch to put them in the label’s jangly lineage that harkened back to the Byrds and Moby Grape, but the Rickenbacker guitars and stacked vocals say otherwise. And of course, the Bangles were one of the very few all-female bands charting their own success.
Meanwhile, John Cowsill was in a family business that had a corner on what later became known as sunshine pop. The band known as the Cowsills consisted of John, his three brothers, their mother and sister, singing together on cheery songs like “The Rain, the Park and Other Things” and “Indian Lake” as well as a bold version of “Hair,” from the musical of the same name. They also served as the inspiration for The Patridge Family, the television sitcom about a family band.
After the Cowsills disbanded, John became a regular member of the Beach Boys, playing guitar and keyboards with them for over two decades. Another interesting footnote: Having played drums with his family, his time-keeping skills landed him in the 1981 Tommy Tutone hit “867-5309 (Jenny).”
Peterson and Cowsill crossed paths as early as 1978. John’s brother Bob served as a mentor to the Bangles in their early days. In the 2000s, Peterson played in the Psycho Sisters, with sister Susan Cowsill on vocals, and both women eventually became part of the Continental Drifters, a New Orleans songwriting collective of players. Surprisingly, the couple was married 22 years before they released their first album together, 2025’s Long After the Fire.
For that project, the couple put together a set of songs written by Bill and Barry Cowsill, John’s late brothers. (“At [the early] stage, John and I considered calling the project Dead Brothers,” Peterson quips in the press kit.) Some had been recorded previously, but they also added some deep cuts including one tune sourced from an ancient cassette of a live performance.
Bill’s writing leans towards into traditional country music in songs like “Vagabond,” having played that style in his post-Cowsills band the Blue Shadows. Barry’s songs range from passionate Americana to pure pop (“Sound on Sound”), with lyrics that often underscore a search for love and understanding. The duo played nearly all the instruments themselves, with help from producer Paul Allen, ensuring a full band sound.
One thing that runs through the album is the skill both Peterson and Cowsill bring to vocal arrangements. “John was very trained in this harmony stack, where you follow the other vocals exactly. And I’m a little bit more chaotic,” she told Guitar Girl Magazine last year. “So you get both on this record.” One of Barry’s songs, “Don’t Look Back” nearly provides the missing link between its source and the Bangles. Peterson’s voice maintains the powerful delivery she first displayed in the ‘80s, and the layers of voices recall her and her husband’s past work.
To maintain the full band arrangements in person, complete with voices, Peterson and Cowsill will be accompanied by the local group known as Jill’s Jagoffs. The name originated when bassist Rod Schwartz, guitarist Steve Seel, keyboardist Tim Pollock, drummer Kip Ruefle and vocalists Holly Scott and Sarah Siplak served as the backing band for the late Jill Sobule when she came to Pittsburgh. For this week’s show, the Clarks’ Gary Jacob will add pedal steel to maintain the twang of album.
Tuesday, June 2. City Winery, 1627 Smallman St, Strip District. 7:30 pm. https://citywinery.com/pages/events/pittsburgh#