Venturing off on her own to bring fans a new experience called “The Ann Wilson Thing” (TAWT) one half of Heart, Ann Wilson, will entertain fans with some blues with a rock edge in an intimate performance at the Gallo Center for the Arts on Wednesday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m.
The sister duo of Ann and Nancy Wilson that makes Heart complete is still together and touring. The Ann Wilson Thing is just an additional exploit to bring Heart fans and new fans something a little different in select venues.
“I am doing shows with my solo thing between the Heart shows,” said Wilson. “So I am still doing Heart two weeks out of every month and TAWT the rest of the time.”
She will not be performing any Heart songs at this performance but she will be doing original songs written specifically for TAWT along with some cover songs like “Manic Depression” by Jimi Hendrix.
Wilson and her husband threw some different names around for her solo gig and decided to keep it simple and true to what it is her thing.
“We do really exciting cool covers,” added Wilson. “All the songs that we do have a message and we don’t any pop or anything like that.
“It is all heavy duty songs with a message.”
With a musical family growing up, Wilson knew that it was just natural for her to start playing guitar when she was a teenager. Along with playing the guitar, Wilson plays the keyboard a bit and the flute.
A solo gig is not unfamiliar territory for Wilson, as she had a solo album back in 2006 and has been playing in TAWT for about a year and has over 40 years’ experience in the music business. Growing up Wilson was influenced by musical greats like the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream, and the Moody Blues and now she listens to a variety of world music.
Throughout her career Heart has opened for some amazing artists and she has had collaborations with Wynonna Judd, Alison Krauss, Rufus Wainwright, and Elton John, to name a few.
An artist Wilson wouldn’t mind collaborating with, she added, would be Lady GaGa.
With a full band on stage, the lyricist and songwriter will be belting out ballads and pushing vocal boundaries with her rock edge.
“I like performing live because it means you can’t fake it,” stated Wilson. “You have to be good.
“I think people should know that if they choose one really interesting show that is unique to come to this year it should be The Ann Wilson Thing because you are not going to get this kind of quality anywhere else,” Wilson added. “People will get really good singing and good playing and great songs in a small atmosphere.”
