Photo: Criss Cain
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“I’m trying to think of another word than awesome, but that one will certainly do,” Ann Wilson says with a laugh as she describes her new group, Tripsitter. “These musicians can carve new territory. They’re not scared to be tender. They’re not scared to go completely wild and crazy. What I like about this group so much is we can go anywhere.”
Wilson and Tripsitter released Another Door in September, which marks the first time in her solo career outside of her iconic group Heart that she has recorded an album consisting entirely of original material. “I think the main thing that got us going writing songs was just how fun it was,” she says. “The first song we wrote was ‘This Is Now,’ and that felt so good that we kept on writing more. The guys had a whole bunch of musical ideas, I had a notebook full of lyrical ideas and the songs kept arriving, so we thought, ‘What’s the point in doing any covers?’”
The band recently wrapped up a series of fall dates in support of Another Door, but the five musicians will continue performing together well into 2024. On April 20, Heart will begin a tour that will extend into September, during which Ann and her sister Nancy will take the stage alongside the members of Tripsitter. This version of Heart played three dates at the end of 2023, which featured a number of classics, in addition to a rousing version of “This Is Now.”
On New Year’s Day, you performed outside between periods at the NHL Winter Classic in Seattle. It looked rather chilly out there. How difficult was that for you?
It was definitely one of the most challenging gigs we’ve ever done. It was in the high 30s, lows 40s. For me, as a singer, it had the cold and the moisture—there were little ice crystals in the air. But I tell you, once you start playing, you go out of body, basically. So it worked out. But that was the coldest weather we’ve ever played in, by far. [Laughs.]
You said that “This Is Now” was the first song you wrote with Tripsitter. After that, was there a particular one where it felt like you were really hitting your stride in terms of what this band could be?
“Rain of Hell” was one of those. We played the Wacken festival over in Germany at the same time we were making the record. We tested “Rain of Hell” at that metal fest, and people just loved it. They didn’t know Tripsitter and me from Adam. Maybe they kind of knew me from years ago with Heart, but we were mostly just a little band up there on the B stage. When we did “Rain of Hell,” the place came unglued. It was really cool, and we thought, “OK, we’ve got something here.”
On Another Door, you also play some flute, which has remained a steady presence in your music over the years. How do you approach that instrument?
I’ve always had a really strange relationship with the flute because my main thing has been being a singer. I’ve never thought of myself as being extremely proficient on the flute. I can come up with a couple of lines, but I’m definitely not a flautist by any means. I’m influenced by the old-school guys like Ray Thomas, who, back in the psychedelic era, could add the flute as a color. I’ve never been Ian Anderson. Ever. [Laughs.] He’s classically trained and completely wonderful, and I’m not that, but I can make the flute move, and I’ve always liked it.
What is the backstory to the new song “Rusty Robots?”
I live in Florida and the guys mostly live in Nashville. So at the very beginning, they sent me one-minute groove ideas they came up with while they were jamming together. They would give them funny names, and one of them was called “Rusty Robots.” I was looking for something that would have some funk in it but also be insane, kind of like “The Crunge” by Led Zeppelin. That’s what their little demo of “Rusty Robots” had in it. So I came up with a bunch of words for it. The idea is somebody’s walking home in a rainstorm and getting completely soaked and pissed off about it. Then that person begins talking to the rainstorm, and the rainstorm starts talking back. When we put it all together, it became kind of magical.
You’ve played with Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule over the years. Can you talk about that connection?
Warren’s a great human. Our manager, Dave Frey, was deeply involved in LOCKN’ and had been trying for years to get Heart to come play LOCKN’. But Heart was kind of imprisoned in this, “Don’t play festivals, just play sheds” kind of hamster wheel.
Finally, when I was out doing my solo stuff, Dave asked again, so we went out and I played with Gov’t Mule. It was just the most liberating, fun thing. It was also probably the beginning of all this freedom that I’m experiencing now.
We did five songs, including some Zeppelin stuff and “Mother Earth” because that’s a song that the Mule always does, and it was really cool. Then a couple of times they invited me to the Christmas show in Asheville, and we played with them again up north at The Capitol Theater for a B.B. King tribute. It’s just been a great musical friendship and what a player, he is—Oh, man!
Are there any Heart songs that you really enjoy but, for whatever reason, haven’t caught on in the way that you think they should?
There are many. I think that songs like “Mistral Wind” and “Back to Avalon” are really good but don’t see the light of day. It’s always a challenge because people want to hear “Magic Man” and “Crazy on You.”
When it comes to Heart, you said you’d play a couple of gigs at the end of the year to see how it feels before making any further commitments. You recently announced a major tour, so you must have been pleased.
A few doors opened up for me in the studio with Tripsitter, no pun intended. [Laughs.] I had been hanging around for a year or two, not knowing what was wrong with me because I didn’t want to do the old, prescribed Live Nation Heart thing anymore. There’s nothing wrong with Heart and nothing wrong with Live Nation, I just wanted to try something different and dangerous. Then I found these Tripsitter guys, and I think that in the unity we have together, we’ve found that.
For me to be out there, I need to be an authentic person, making cool music on full alert. The music has to be there and we have to be there together. That’s where we are now.
The post Ann Wilson: Opening ‘Another Door’ with Heart and Tripsitter appeared first on Relix Media.
