Catching up with Ann Wilson.
Ann Wilson is putting Heart on hold this year for a run of solo shows. The past few years were especially busy for the group, as it was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Heart also published a memoir, coauthored by Wilson and her sister and bandmate, Nancy; released a new studio album, “Beautiful Broken”; and put out a handful of concert recordings, including last year’s “Live at the Royal Albert Hall With the Royal Philharmonic Symphony.” Now, Wilson is hitting the road with her own band and a set list that mixes Heart classics with unexpected covers. She spoke to us from a stop in her hometown of Seattle. Q: You and your husband gave up your home in Seattle to live on the road. Are you enjoying life as a nomad? A: Yeah, we are. We came to rest for a couple of months in Florida after the last Heart tour ended, but we’re just about to leave again for a year. It’s a good life. Once you get used to the distances, it’s really doable — you just set your sights on a good 400-mile day and on you go. Q: But how do you manage the food situation? There aren’t a lot of great options when you’re hauling through rural Nebraska. A: Well, I’ll tell you, you can’t set your sights too high. You have to be OK stopping at a Denny’s or Cracker Barrel and just keeping it simple. We think of food as fuel. Q: You recently tweeted out your list of favorite live albums. I was surprised that you ranked Harry Belafonte’s Grammywinning 1959 album, “Belafonte at Carnegie Hall,” as your favorite. A: I’ve just always been attached to that album because my parents used to play it. I was 8 years old, and I could hear the power of his performance and how it blew his audience away. I’ve had it ever since. Q: People try to sing like you every day in their cars and karaoke bars. Is there anyone you always wanted to be able to sing like? A: I love the way Lucinda Williams sings. Yesterday, I was getting into the new Alison Krauss album, “Windy City.” That is so old-school and pure. She just nails it. I always thought it would be so good to sing in that delicate way. Q: Does doing this solo tour open up the opportunity of trying to sing in different ways? A: Yes, definitely. That’s almost the main idea for doing the tour this way, just so I can stretch out and find new parts of myself. We’re doing four of my new songs, probably six or seven Heart songs, and the rest are beautiful covers. Q: You’ve played some of these songs for so many years. Does performing them in different ways, like you did with the orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, bring them back to life for you? A: That was a really great night. A lot of them are at their best and purest with an orchestra. We used to use real strings in the studio; these days nobody would even think of that. It takes a little bit of perspective. I don’t want to be out there phoning it in.