Song Premiere: Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) and John Cowsill “Is Anybody Here?”

Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) and John Cowsill “Is Anybody Here?’

Americana Highways is hosting this premiere of Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) and John Cowsill‘s song “Is Anybody Here” from their forthcoming album Long After the Fire, set for release on Record Store Day April 12. Long After the Fire was produced and engineered by Paul Allen; mixed by Mark Lonsway; and mastered by Howie Weinberg.  It was recorded at Sun Records in Memphis. Songs on this album were written by John’s late brothers, Barry and Bill Cowsill; this song was written by William Cowsill and Jeff Hatcher. This song will be released on March 21.

“Is Anybody Here?” is John Cowsill on vocals, harmony vocals, background vocals, drums and percussion; and Paul Allen on electric guitar, background vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, and percussion.

This video was directed with cinematography by Vicki and John, and edited by Vicki.

The tambourine slips in in a signature way here as the song opens, to subtly set the stage if you listen just right. John on vocals is utterly heartwrenching and even a touch tormented, as the song opens out to lament the feeling of being absolutely alone, and yet, at the same time the song is rich with those who have come before. Rich with those who do care after all. Wake up folks!  The closely vibrating vocals and instruments summon up a lavish feeling of community, and it sounds like a fine Byrds / Bangles / Cowsills blend.  Then it’s a treat to watch them in this video with the footage of the streets of Los Angeles.

I was playing with the Beach Boys in Memphis. Paul Allen called me up when he saw I was playing and asked if I wanted to record at Sun Records. I giggled to myself and said, “Why?” and Paul reminded 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 Orbison-sounding song on Long After The Fire. It was so fitting to be in Sun Studios with all the photos of Elvis, Orbison, Jerry Lee, and Cash on the walls and being surround by the vibe in that room. Paul and I built the track and then moved on to singing. It was exciting to sing on all the old ribbon mics. It was a magical moment. The slap echo tape machine was so cool. You could almost hear all the other artists’ voices coming thru the slap echo and I could feel all that history when I was out in the tracking room singing. – JOHN COWSILL

“’Is Anybody Here’ is the song that kicked off the entire Long After The Fire project. 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 whole Long After The Fire record. At this stage, John and I were considering calling the project Dead Brothers! – VICKI PETERSON

Save and pre-save the music here: https://label51.ffm.to/vickijohncdd.OPR