Following the release of her new solo project, Another Door, Heart founder and lead singer/songwriter, Ann Wilson, dropped by for an Audacy Check In with Jason Bailey to bring us up to date on all things surrounding the new album and more.
LISTEN NOW: Audacy Check In with Ann Wilson
Another Door, available now, takes Wilson back to her roots as it features all-original material she created with her band, Tripsitter. It also marks the first time the 73-year-old has written a full-length album with a band since the 1970s.
“I’ve never had an experience making any other album like the one I just had making Another Door with these fine musicians,” she shared. “They really inspired me and challenged me. Sort of kicked my ass, you know?”
She continued on to explain the healthy challenges the band presented by “Just by being really good and not falling into the old cliches and doing all the old stuff that’s tried and true and proven.” While presenting challenges, cutting new ground also came somewhat naturally for Wilson who said this album would not have been possible at any other point in her career. It is a result of everything she’s been through.
“I think you have to live through it,” she said of the concepts she shared on the album. “It’s so tempting to always be looking forward or backward, but once you hit a realization that this is it, this is what we’re given, this is what we have, we should inhabit the moment.”
As she soaks up the moments of her own success, many other Rock females credit her for their own success in the industry recognizing Wilson for beating down doors for females in the Rock space. “For a long time, women didn’t even attempt to enter the Rock scene because it was just too hard,” Wilson said of her early days in the Rock scene. “Nobody took you seriously, nobody gave you any credibility so you didn’t even try. But once a few of us kicked the door open enough to squeeze through, more and more women started to come in and see that it was OK — but, it’s a struggle because you’re always going to be misinterpreted.”
“This is an exciting time in my creative life,” Ann said ahead of Another Door’s release. “So much new and fresh to remind me of why I love my calling!”
Hear more about Wilson’s perspective as a woman in the Rock space, how she feels when others cover Heart songs and the one-of-a-kind friendship she shared with Chris Cornell by checking out her entire Check-In conversation with Audacy’s Jason Bailey above. Plus, be sure to check out her new album, Another Door, available now.
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