WEBVTT - Heart's Ann Wilson 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:22.636 Pushkin. Ann Wilson is the powerhouse lead singer of the 0:00:22.636 --> 0:00:26.596 band Heart, who celebrated classic debut album Dreamboat. Annie came 0:00:26.636 --> 0:00:30.396 out nearly fifty years ago. Last week, we featured an 0:00:30.436 --> 0:00:33.796 interview with her sister and longtime bandmatee Nancy Wilson, so 0:00:33.876 --> 0:00:36.836 make sure to check that out if you haven't already. Today, 0:00:36.876 --> 0:00:39.356 we'll hear from Anne, who's responsible for belting out and 0:00:39.396 --> 0:00:42.476 co writing some of Heart's most iconic early hits like 0:00:42.596 --> 0:00:46.876 Magic Man, Barracuda, and Crazy On You. Four years older 0:00:46.876 --> 0:00:49.836 than Nancy, Anne was the first Wilson's sister to join Heart, 0:00:49.996 --> 0:00:52.316 a band that started out as a cabaret cover band. 0:00:52.916 --> 0:00:56.556 Despite undergoing multiple lineup changes since the seventies, Heart has 0:00:56.596 --> 0:00:59.676 released top ten albums in nearly every decade in the 0:00:59.756 --> 0:01:04.316 last fifty years and sold over twenty million albums worldwide. 0:01:04.836 --> 0:01:08.236 Outside of Heart, Ann has also released solo material, including 0:01:08.236 --> 0:01:10.956 an album in twenty two three with her band Tripsitter. 0:01:11.596 --> 0:01:13.996 On today's episode, Lea Rose talks to Ann Wilson about 0:01:13.996 --> 0:01:16.596 Heart's current world tour and the Elton John albums she 0:01:16.676 --> 0:01:20.076 sings before every show to warm up her voice. Anne 0:01:20.076 --> 0:01:23.196 also explains how she would strategically play guitars around her 0:01:23.236 --> 0:01:25.676 house when having parties at her Seattle home in the 0:01:25.756 --> 0:01:29.036 nineties to encourage jam sessions with guests like Lane Staley 0:01:29.156 --> 0:01:32.316 and Chris Cornell, and she remembers singing on stage with 0:01:32.396 --> 0:01:35.876 Grace Slick and Stevie Nicks, who Anne says really is 0:01:35.916 --> 0:01:41.556 a witch, but a good one. This is broken record 0:01:41.876 --> 0:01:45.596 liner notes for the digital age. I'm justin Mitchman. Here's 0:01:45.676 --> 0:01:48.756 Lea Rose's conversation with Ann Wilson of Heart. 0:01:49.756 --> 0:01:52.916 Have you reimagined the band at all this time going out? 0:01:52.916 --> 0:01:55.396 I know it's been five years since Hart has toured. 0:01:56.276 --> 0:01:57.876 How has the band changed? 0:01:58.796 --> 0:02:03.196 Will the band has changed completely? Because nothing about it 0:02:03.276 --> 0:02:07.716 is the same except me and Nancy. Well, Ryan Waters 0:02:07.876 --> 0:02:11.716 was out in twenty nineteen, and this time we have 0:02:12.436 --> 0:02:16.596 the Tripsitter Band, which is my solo band as part 0:02:17.036 --> 0:02:20.996 with Ryan Waters and Nancy and I and it is 0:02:21.036 --> 0:02:25.636 a fantastic group. It's just wow. Blows me away every 0:02:25.676 --> 0:02:29.596 time we go and play some of these old Heart songs. 0:02:29.636 --> 0:02:34.716 You know, with this group of people, they just they 0:02:34.836 --> 0:02:39.116 understand the music and they just totally explode into it. 0:02:39.116 --> 0:02:39.996 It's amazing. 0:02:40.996 --> 0:02:44.236 And the trips that our guys are. From my understanding, 0:02:44.276 --> 0:02:47.156 they originally were session players in Nashville. 0:02:47.836 --> 0:02:51.796 They were, and they have reached a point in their careers, 0:02:52.476 --> 0:02:55.516 all of them where they don't want to do that anymore. 0:02:55.636 --> 0:02:58.276 Is a way of life. They want their own band. 0:02:59.036 --> 0:03:01.796 They don't want to just be working, you know, working 0:03:01.836 --> 0:03:03.956 for other people, doing what other people tell them to do. 0:03:04.636 --> 0:03:06.476 They want to be in a band where they have 0:03:06.596 --> 0:03:09.716 a say and they have ideas that get used and 0:03:10.956 --> 0:03:13.476 you know, it's a real band. And that's what we 0:03:13.556 --> 0:03:17.636 have with Heart at this point. You know, Heart's had 0:03:17.716 --> 0:03:24.036 many many iterations over the decades, different lineups and different 0:03:24.156 --> 0:03:28.196 kinds of things. Sometimes it's more acoustics. Sometimes it's way 0:03:28.316 --> 0:03:33.716 rock and grungy, almost like in the early two thousands, 0:03:33.356 --> 0:03:39.636 and sometimes it's pretty traditional a classic art. This is 0:03:39.676 --> 0:03:43.476 something completely new. I mean, it's huge in some points, 0:03:44.276 --> 0:03:48.716 really passionate. The dynamics are incredible. I mean, I can't 0:03:48.716 --> 0:03:51.476 say enough good stuff. I guess I'm just waxing. 0:03:52.076 --> 0:03:54.716 How do you practice when you're in a rehearsal space 0:03:54.796 --> 0:03:58.156 before you go out on tour? How can you practice 0:03:58.196 --> 0:04:01.396 to play arenas since the physical space is so different. 0:04:02.676 --> 0:04:06.396 Well, what we hear is what we have in our heads. 0:04:06.796 --> 0:04:09.996 So that's what we practice, not trying to go out 0:04:09.996 --> 0:04:14.836 and address every foot of airspace in those places because 0:04:14.836 --> 0:04:19.436 that's impossible. And all the different minds, I mean, if 0:04:19.476 --> 0:04:23.556 it's a full house in a big place, it's it 0:04:23.596 --> 0:04:26.916 can be up to twenty thousand different minds you know 0:04:26.996 --> 0:04:29.556 that are out there. Yeah, and how do you talk 0:04:29.636 --> 0:04:31.836 to that? So you can't. You just have to get 0:04:31.876 --> 0:04:35.796 out there and be completely inside the music and inside 0:04:35.796 --> 0:04:40.516 the lyrics and be there, really mean what you say, 0:04:41.116 --> 0:04:44.716 be present, be authentic, be all the way there. You know, 0:04:45.476 --> 0:04:46.836 that's the only thing you can do. 0:04:47.356 --> 0:04:50.156 When you're performing. Do you tend to lock eyes with 0:04:50.556 --> 0:04:55.236 certain people in the crowd or do you find yourself 0:04:55.316 --> 0:04:57.636 just looking past the audience? 0:04:58.956 --> 0:05:01.276 Well, I don't make an effort to lock eyes with 0:05:01.316 --> 0:05:04.516 any one person because they think that you mean something 0:05:04.596 --> 0:05:08.676 by it. You know, maybe you do, maybe you do 0:05:08.796 --> 0:05:11.836 mean so thing by it. But I tend to be 0:05:11.996 --> 0:05:15.596 in my head sort of and fluid inside of this 0:05:15.676 --> 0:05:18.956 big sound pool that we're creating. 0:05:19.596 --> 0:05:20.476 It sounds awesome. 0:05:21.116 --> 0:05:25.556 Yeah, so I'll look out and I'll look at the 0:05:25.716 --> 0:05:29.156 whole panorama. Yeah, if they've got things lit or if 0:05:29.196 --> 0:05:32.516 it's all twinkle here or something that's pretty amazing to 0:05:32.556 --> 0:05:34.476 see from the stage. 0:05:34.756 --> 0:05:37.996 Heart's getting ready to celebrate your fiftieth anniversary. You've seen 0:05:38.876 --> 0:05:41.356 the crowds change so much over the years, and now 0:05:41.396 --> 0:05:44.996 everybody has the cell phone. Yeah, does that change the 0:05:45.756 --> 0:05:47.876 performance for you? The energy of the crowd? 0:05:48.596 --> 0:05:51.916 It does change things, I gotta say, especially when they 0:05:52.636 --> 0:05:55.276 come up to the front of the stage and they 0:05:55.716 --> 0:05:58.676 turn around so that you're in the backdrop and they 0:05:58.676 --> 0:06:01.796 want to take a selfie with you as a background, 0:06:01.836 --> 0:06:05.196 you know. I mean, that's that's really distracting, you know, 0:06:05.276 --> 0:06:07.356 because you just want to sort of jump out of 0:06:07.356 --> 0:06:09.676 the way, you know, because it's it's yeah, I'm not 0:06:09.836 --> 0:06:14.436 a backdrop, you know. But I mean, to be fair, 0:06:15.156 --> 0:06:18.116 it's a big night for them and they want to 0:06:18.476 --> 0:06:21.596 preserve some little memory of it, so right, why not 0:06:21.676 --> 0:06:22.276 let them have it. 0:06:22.596 --> 0:06:24.916 I think I've read that you have an extensive vocal 0:06:24.956 --> 0:06:27.236 warm up before you go on stage. Can you share 0:06:27.396 --> 0:06:29.836 some of that with us? What you do to get ready? 0:06:30.676 --> 0:06:34.436 Yeah, I warm up for about forty five minutes to 0:06:34.516 --> 0:06:39.076 an hour, and I used to try and do classical 0:06:39.436 --> 0:06:42.716 like ruin scales and stuff like the vocal coaches teach 0:06:42.756 --> 0:06:45.556 you to do. But I couldn't sustain that. It's just 0:06:45.596 --> 0:06:50.516 too boring. So I finally found out that my throat 0:06:50.556 --> 0:06:54.796 and soul are just as warmed up if I find 0:06:54.836 --> 0:06:59.116 a couple of records that I love and just sing 0:06:59.116 --> 0:07:02.116 along with the whole thing. Like for a while last 0:07:02.156 --> 0:07:05.436 year I was doing Elton John Captain Fantastic in the 0:07:05.516 --> 0:07:08.436 Brown Dirt Cowboy, just sing along with the whole record 0:07:08.476 --> 0:07:12.356 every song, and then if there's still some more time, 0:07:12.476 --> 0:07:15.876 find another one. Sing along with that. Wow and lo 0:07:16.036 --> 0:07:19.556 and behold, your throat is warmed up. It's not just 0:07:19.636 --> 0:07:23.436 your throat, it's your whole ability to just be open, 0:07:23.596 --> 0:07:24.756 you know, your soul. 0:07:26.276 --> 0:07:30.636 When did you realize that you had such a powerful voice. 0:07:30.836 --> 0:07:34.516 I've never thought it was that powerful myself, except for 0:07:34.596 --> 0:07:37.116 a few moments in a few of the songs like 0:07:37.156 --> 0:07:41.236 Crazy and You that are high and sustained notes. And 0:07:41.596 --> 0:07:44.756 it's different when you hit a note and just hold it, 0:07:45.276 --> 0:07:47.516 then if you hit a high note and just go 0:07:47.716 --> 0:07:50.956 all squirrely all over the place. And I've never been 0:07:51.516 --> 0:07:53.876 much one for vocal gymnastics. 0:07:55.996 --> 0:07:58.076 They're like Mariah Carey runs right. 0:07:58.236 --> 0:08:01.996 Yeah. I like to sing them just simple. So when 0:08:02.036 --> 0:08:04.716 I realized I could do that I thought, most people 0:08:04.796 --> 0:08:08.756 don't do this this way, so I must have something. 0:08:09.716 --> 0:08:12.076 But I don't sit around on my some kind of 0:08:12.156 --> 0:08:15.916 laurels going wow, you sure have a strong voice. I 0:08:15.916 --> 0:08:17.596 think my kids would tell you that I have a 0:08:17.596 --> 0:08:25.316 strong voice. Or people at a birthday party when I 0:08:25.356 --> 0:08:28.196 sing Happy Birthday along with the crowd. 0:08:28.756 --> 0:08:32.436 Oh, I would love to hear that. Wow, So that's fascinating. 0:08:32.436 --> 0:08:33.996 You don't think you have a strong voice. 0:08:34.636 --> 0:08:38.156 Well, I mean there's some mighty fine singers out there. Yeah. 0:08:38.156 --> 0:08:40.316 Who are some of your favorite singers right now? 0:08:41.556 --> 0:08:45.436 Well, I always loved Uton. I think he in the 0:08:45.516 --> 0:08:48.836 early days. He was one of the people who influenced 0:08:48.876 --> 0:08:53.956 me the most. Right now, I would think that Billie Eilish. 0:08:54.356 --> 0:08:57.596 I love the way she sings. I mean it's so 0:08:58.436 --> 0:09:05.236 refined and so restrained and just calm, you know, beautiful. Yeah, 0:09:05.436 --> 0:09:07.636 so that I admire that, I really do. 0:09:08.276 --> 0:09:10.876 Have you tried to do something like that just to 0:09:10.916 --> 0:09:12.676 play around and see how it would sound. 0:09:13.356 --> 0:09:16.156 It's all in the song. Yeah, if you hit the 0:09:16.196 --> 0:09:18.716 right song that has that in it, then you can 0:09:18.756 --> 0:09:21.636 do it. I think. Yeah. And she and her brother, 0:09:21.756 --> 0:09:25.436 I mean the stuff they write kill her stuff. I 0:09:25.516 --> 0:09:28.716 love to see them at these big awards shows, just 0:09:28.756 --> 0:09:32.716 cleaning up, you know, because it's so you know, anti establishment, 0:09:33.396 --> 0:09:38.236 you think so. Yeah, I mean, here she comes wearing 0:09:38.316 --> 0:09:44.516 this total alternative outfit whatever it is, whichever thing she's at, 0:09:45.076 --> 0:09:49.116 and she looks beautiful. Her brother is just there to 0:09:49.196 --> 0:09:52.836 support her. They're just you can tell that they're friends, yeah, 0:09:52.836 --> 0:09:57.076 and that they're they're really tight, you know. I love that. 0:09:58.716 --> 0:10:02.756 I listen to you and Nancy's audiobook Kicking and Dreaming 0:10:03.756 --> 0:10:09.476 and was just sort of amazed at how strong the 0:10:09.676 --> 0:10:14.556 family mythology is in your family, and it really seems 0:10:14.676 --> 0:10:18.916 like you kept going back to the early days of 0:10:18.996 --> 0:10:21.236 your family and the stories that were shared in your 0:10:21.236 --> 0:10:25.036 families when it came to songwriting and decisions you made 0:10:25.036 --> 0:10:27.876 in your life. And at one point you were talking 0:10:27.916 --> 0:10:30.676 about this letter that your dad wrote to your mom 0:10:30.716 --> 0:10:33.916 where he was basically proposing to her, and how that 0:10:34.036 --> 0:10:37.516 was like the single most foundational work that sort of 0:10:37.596 --> 0:10:39.396 kept inspiring your songwriting. 0:10:40.076 --> 0:10:40.476 Yeah. 0:10:40.716 --> 0:10:43.396 Do you still feel that influence now? 0:10:44.396 --> 0:10:47.756 Yeah, I'll always feel influenced by both my parents because 0:10:47.796 --> 0:10:52.756 they were liberal, they were bohemian, they were romantic, and 0:10:53.076 --> 0:10:57.356 they were smart. You know, they were both intellectuals and 0:10:57.396 --> 0:11:00.556 they managed to find each other, you know, and their 0:11:00.796 --> 0:11:06.196 love of poetry and literature really inspires all my songwriting, 0:11:06.316 --> 0:11:11.396 and I think Nancy's too. Were both we're both pretty romantic. 0:11:11.796 --> 0:11:16.156 Yeah, when you left home, when you left the Seattle area, 0:11:16.276 --> 0:11:19.596 you moved to Canada, right when Heart was hocus focused, 0:11:19.676 --> 0:11:23.316 before the band was even called Heart, and you were 0:11:23.356 --> 0:11:28.156 living with your first boyfriend, your first love. Did that 0:11:28.396 --> 0:11:33.316 live up to this mythology in your mind of your parents' 0:11:33.716 --> 0:11:35.556 bond and their romantic love. 0:11:36.356 --> 0:11:39.356 Boy, Yeah, it sure did at the beginning. Yeah, it's 0:11:39.396 --> 0:11:43.156 just like all love affairs, you know, at the very start, 0:11:43.196 --> 0:11:47.676 it's so as Joni Mitchell says, it's so righteous at 0:11:47.676 --> 0:11:52.156 the start, you know, yeah, and just powerful and beautiful. 0:11:52.916 --> 0:11:57.836 But you're young, and your expectation makes it be just 0:11:57.956 --> 0:12:02.076 that makes it be mythology. It can't survive in the 0:12:02.116 --> 0:12:04.596 real world, you know, it has to. It has to 0:12:04.636 --> 0:12:08.036 break down because it's too perfect and that's not what 0:12:08.076 --> 0:12:11.356 this world is like and what people are like. Especially 0:12:11.556 --> 0:12:14.556 when you fall in love with somebody, you idealize them 0:12:14.916 --> 0:12:18.316 to the point where they're just gonna do everything for you, 0:12:18.356 --> 0:12:21.356 They're going to be your everything. And the minute you 0:12:21.396 --> 0:12:25.156 do that that's when it starts to break down. I think, Yeah, 0:12:25.796 --> 0:12:29.996 you got to let people have space, give them the 0:12:30.076 --> 0:12:32.316 right to be human and the right to be imperfect 0:12:32.356 --> 0:12:34.356 and not do everything for you. 0:12:35.996 --> 0:12:40.396 When you wrote Magic Man about that relationship, were you 0:12:40.556 --> 0:12:44.876 ever embarrassed or did you find yourself holding back because 0:12:44.876 --> 0:12:47.196 you didn't want your mom to see things that might 0:12:47.196 --> 0:12:49.236 have been a little bit scandalous at the time. 0:12:50.676 --> 0:12:56.156 Well, holding back. I think that leaving home and running 0:12:56.236 --> 0:13:02.436 off to another country with a man was about was 0:13:02.476 --> 0:13:06.996 not holding back. But yeah, you know, like I didn't 0:13:07.036 --> 0:13:09.836 rub it in her face that suddenly I was just 0:13:09.916 --> 0:13:15.796 off sleeping with somebody, right, And she was, for all 0:13:15.836 --> 0:13:19.716 her romanticism and love she had for our father, she 0:13:19.836 --> 0:13:22.556 was pretty victorian when it came to sex and stuff. 0:13:23.236 --> 0:13:26.156 So that was not something that went down easy between us. 0:13:27.116 --> 0:13:29.396 She just didn't want to think that I was up 0:13:29.436 --> 0:13:33.596 there blowing it. And that was in the pre Roe v. 0:13:33.756 --> 0:13:38.476 Wade days before it was legalized. We're back there now. 0:13:38.556 --> 0:13:44.916 But so mothers were extremely fearful of their daughter's running 0:13:44.916 --> 0:13:49.716 off and getting into wild sexual relationships and ending up pregnant, 0:13:50.156 --> 0:13:52.076 not knowing what to do about it, and you know, 0:13:52.316 --> 0:13:56.476 basically their lives being ruled by that fact from then on. 0:13:57.956 --> 0:14:00.916 Do you remember having conversations with your mom about that 0:14:01.036 --> 0:14:03.876 where she was warning you, like, look, this is what 0:14:03.956 --> 0:14:05.556 could happen to your life. 0:14:06.356 --> 0:14:10.036 Yeah, she put it differently, though she couched it more 0:14:10.116 --> 0:14:17.756 in h well, this is not dignified. You know. She 0:14:17.836 --> 0:14:20.116 didn't want to have the talk and get all clinical 0:14:20.156 --> 0:14:23.516 and everything. She didn't really want to do that, but 0:14:24.076 --> 0:14:27.276 she found a way to do it. And it was well, 0:14:27.316 --> 0:14:30.716 if you just go up there and become barefoot and pregnant, 0:14:30.716 --> 0:14:35.356 you know, that's like pretty trailer park trash. Oh and 0:14:36.276 --> 0:14:38.116 I guess that wasn't enough to scare me off. 0:14:40.116 --> 0:14:40.356 Yeah. 0:14:40.396 --> 0:14:42.876 I thought it was interesting because some of the lyrics 0:14:42.876 --> 0:14:45.076 and magic Man you it's almost like you're trying to 0:14:45.116 --> 0:14:49.156 convince your mom about how wonderful this guy is. You know, 0:14:49.196 --> 0:14:50.596 he's a magic man Mama. 0:14:50.796 --> 0:14:54.996 Yeah, Well we had many phone calls where she I 0:14:55.036 --> 0:14:57.956 was up in Canada in the cottage with him, and 0:14:58.516 --> 0:15:01.756 she wanted me to come home. She's, yeah, you got 0:15:01.756 --> 0:15:03.516 to come home. You're too young for this. You know. 0:15:04.356 --> 0:15:07.236 I was at nineteen, so I was old enough. 0:15:07.516 --> 0:15:10.036 Yeah. I was so surprised to too. And maybe it's 0:15:10.076 --> 0:15:12.836 not surprising for the time. But while you were in 0:15:12.956 --> 0:15:15.596 Hocus Pocus, you were the front person in the band. 0:15:16.556 --> 0:15:18.836 After gigs, you would come home the band was all 0:15:18.876 --> 0:15:22.556 living together. You would come home and cook everybody dinner 0:15:22.636 --> 0:15:26.236 and do all the laundry and do all the like 0:15:26.356 --> 0:15:28.716 homemaking duties. 0:15:29.316 --> 0:15:33.676 Yeah, that didn't last that long. I mean, at first 0:15:33.756 --> 0:15:37.916 I thought how how sweet it was to wash the 0:15:37.916 --> 0:15:41.156 sheets and hang them outside in the fresh air so 0:15:41.196 --> 0:15:43.116 that and then put them back on the bed, you know, 0:15:43.916 --> 0:15:46.396 and try and make a dinner out of some brown 0:15:46.476 --> 0:15:52.316 rice and a couple of onions, you know. But and 0:15:53.716 --> 0:15:56.476 for a while we lived up there in a cabin, 0:15:57.436 --> 0:16:01.996 a cottage thing with Roger Fisher and his wife who 0:16:01.996 --> 0:16:05.596 had just gotten married and received for a wedding gift 0:16:05.636 --> 0:16:09.436 of fifty pounds sack of brown rice, which we all 0:16:10.116 --> 0:16:13.036 ended up living on because we didn't have any money 0:16:13.076 --> 0:16:15.476 when we were putting the band together. So we just 0:16:15.516 --> 0:16:18.356 date brown rice and drank water and called it the 0:16:18.396 --> 0:16:21.476 Georgia Shawa brown rice diet, you know. 0:16:22.196 --> 0:16:25.716 And you can do that back then when you're twenty, yeah, 0:16:25.756 --> 0:16:29.716 and everybody's fine with it, that's right. And that was 0:16:29.756 --> 0:16:32.716 before Nancy joined the band, Yes. 0:16:32.956 --> 0:16:37.436 She joined later in nineteen about seventy three. 0:16:37.556 --> 0:16:39.036 We have to take a quick break, and then we're 0:16:39.116 --> 0:16:46.596 back with more from Anne Wilson and Lea Rose. We're 0:16:46.596 --> 0:16:48.796 back with Lea Rose and Anne Wilson. 0:16:49.796 --> 0:16:52.516 How did the band change for you when Nancy joined? 0:16:53.396 --> 0:16:57.556 Well, I was really glad because I felt that art 0:16:57.716 --> 0:17:00.236 had gone about as far as it could go. We 0:17:00.276 --> 0:17:04.196 didn't have a very good vocal section. I mean, we 0:17:04.236 --> 0:17:08.756 didn't have a very good ability at harmony singing, and 0:17:08.796 --> 0:17:12.436 we did have an acoustic guitar player, so we were 0:17:12.556 --> 0:17:16.636 stuck doing rock and roll songs, you know, like Johnny 0:17:16.636 --> 0:17:19.516 be Good and Walking the Dog and all that kind 0:17:19.556 --> 0:17:23.636 of stuff that the guys did, and there was kind 0:17:23.676 --> 0:17:28.836 of almost a whole part of the soul of the band. 0:17:28.836 --> 0:17:32.396 It was missing for me because I had come from 0:17:33.196 --> 0:17:36.116 doing folk groups with Nancy, where we did heavy harmonies 0:17:36.156 --> 0:17:39.196 and we both played acoustic guitars, and that's so when 0:17:39.236 --> 0:17:43.756 she joined, she brought that element. She's a fantastic harmony 0:17:43.756 --> 0:17:47.716 singer and a great acoustic player. So all of a sudden, 0:17:47.836 --> 0:17:51.716 heart had a heart, you know, and we just got 0:17:52.076 --> 0:17:55.036 kind of what Led Zeppelin had, which was it can 0:17:55.076 --> 0:17:57.476 go as rock as you want, but it can also 0:17:57.556 --> 0:18:01.116 go as tender as you want down at the very center. Yes, 0:18:01.556 --> 0:18:04.716 and that was really satisfying to me. 0:18:06.556 --> 0:18:09.516 Early on you talked about doing you have sort of 0:18:09.516 --> 0:18:13.236 like a mini led Zeppelin cover section in your shows, 0:18:14.076 --> 0:18:17.756 and one night led Zeppelin actually came and saw you play. 0:18:18.596 --> 0:18:20.716 Well, they didn't stop and watch us, They just walked 0:18:20.716 --> 0:18:21.356 through the room. 0:18:22.796 --> 0:18:24.316 Did you see them walking through? 0:18:24.956 --> 0:18:28.636 Yeah? It was a club in Vancouver called oil Can 0:18:28.716 --> 0:18:33.196 Harry's and they had a big showroom and then they 0:18:33.316 --> 0:18:37.156 had a big party room upstairs, and so we saw 0:18:37.196 --> 0:18:40.916 them kind of trooping through after their concert at the arena. 0:18:41.076 --> 0:18:44.116 You know, when they're done with the Glory gig, they 0:18:44.116 --> 0:18:47.716 come and have a party upstairs and oil Cans and yeah, 0:18:47.756 --> 0:18:49.676 we saw them and we all just about lost it. 0:18:50.076 --> 0:18:52.316 I mean, I imagine they just looked like the sexiest 0:18:52.396 --> 0:18:56.276 rock stars on the planet. Oh yeah, yeah. And then 0:18:56.316 --> 0:18:59.996 the full circle moment of having performed at the Kennedy 0:19:00.076 --> 0:19:04.996 Center for when led Zeppelin was getting honored. How did 0:19:05.036 --> 0:19:10.796 you prepare for that show mentally? Was that completely intimidating 0:19:11.036 --> 0:19:13.356 to you or are you able to just sort of 0:19:13.396 --> 0:19:15.476 switch into show mode and go out there and do 0:19:15.556 --> 0:19:17.196 your thing with full confidence. 0:19:18.476 --> 0:19:22.396 I think that that night I needed an extra measure 0:19:22.436 --> 0:19:27.516 of meditative calmness because I didn't want to go out 0:19:27.516 --> 0:19:30.836 there and start to think about it. You know, that's 0:19:30.916 --> 0:19:33.676 what you really don't want to do. Not only was 0:19:33.756 --> 0:19:35.956 led Zeppelin in the audience, but the you know, the 0:19:35.956 --> 0:19:39.836 President and first Lady, and the audience was just packed 0:19:39.876 --> 0:19:46.156 with all these different luminaries and famous people of all ILKs. 0:19:46.356 --> 0:19:50.516 So I just remember saying to Nancy, let's just pretend 0:19:50.556 --> 0:19:54.116 like we have bowls of water in our heads and 0:19:54.156 --> 0:19:56.596 we have to walk out there without spilling a drop 0:19:57.356 --> 0:20:01.076 and just concentrate on the water on the song, right, 0:20:01.836 --> 0:20:05.276 and nothing else, just be in the song. And so 0:20:05.356 --> 0:20:08.596 we did, and it turned out to be a fun 0:20:08.676 --> 0:20:14.436 experience and one that went really smooth, and nothing went wrong, 0:20:14.556 --> 0:20:17.836 and it was great because you know, after all, what 0:20:17.956 --> 0:20:20.716 could possibly go wrong in a situation like that. 0:20:22.196 --> 0:20:28.036 It's such an emotional performance, and the footage after where 0:20:28.196 --> 0:20:31.516 you see you know, Robert Plant and the band, they're 0:20:31.556 --> 0:20:34.476 sitting there with tears streaming down their face, and then 0:20:34.876 --> 0:20:38.356 you see Barack and Michelle Obama sitting there and John 0:20:38.396 --> 0:20:41.876 Bonham's son is playing with you all on drums. It's 0:20:41.996 --> 0:20:46.036 just so incredibly moving. Yeah, what a feat. It's beautiful, 0:20:46.076 --> 0:20:48.876 beautiful performance. You sounded incredible. 0:20:49.556 --> 0:20:52.876 Oh, thank you. Yeah, it was. It was quite an experience, 0:20:53.076 --> 0:20:54.116 never to be forgotten. 0:20:54.956 --> 0:20:57.316 I read at one point that you opened for the 0:20:57.396 --> 0:20:57.916 bee Gees. 0:20:58.556 --> 0:21:00.036 Yeah, that was real early. 0:21:00.756 --> 0:21:03.796 Did you have any sort of interaction with them another 0:21:04.156 --> 0:21:04.876 family band? 0:21:05.636 --> 0:21:08.436 I don't think at that point we got to interact 0:21:08.436 --> 0:21:11.836 with them. At that point we were pretty much a 0:21:11.876 --> 0:21:18.836 little cabaret band in Canada, and the Begs were doing 0:21:18.876 --> 0:21:25.236 across Canada tour and they needed an opener and we'd 0:21:25.276 --> 0:21:29.156 only done one opening show before that for Rod Stewart, 0:21:29.436 --> 0:21:33.156 so we were by no means ready for that kind 0:21:33.196 --> 0:21:36.076 of exposure, but we got up and did it. You know. 0:21:36.956 --> 0:21:40.396 I was always a huge Beg's fan. All their different 0:21:40.436 --> 0:21:47.116 eras and their psychedelic era and even the disco time 0:21:47.196 --> 0:21:49.436 and all that. I just thought it was all great. 0:21:50.156 --> 0:21:53.396 So yeah, it was really fun standing on this side 0:21:53.396 --> 0:21:56.716 of the stage and listening to them live after we 0:21:56.716 --> 0:21:57.516 were done, you know. 0:21:58.116 --> 0:22:00.476 And so that was already after the first album was. 0:22:00.436 --> 0:22:04.596 Out, Yes, pretty soon after the first album was out. 0:22:05.596 --> 0:22:08.396 What do you remember about recording that first album? Do 0:22:08.476 --> 0:22:10.676 any of the session and stand out in your memory. 0:22:11.956 --> 0:22:14.836 Yeah, I just remember going from zero, from knowing nothing, 0:22:14.996 --> 0:22:20.076 absolutely nothing about being in the studio, to Mike Flicker, 0:22:20.156 --> 0:22:24.556 who was our first producer, mentoring me to be able 0:22:24.596 --> 0:22:28.996 to sing a lead vocal on the songs, Like the 0:22:29.036 --> 0:22:31.836 first one I ever sang was Crazy on You, and 0:22:32.796 --> 0:22:36.196 we were actually doing Crazy on You in clubs at 0:22:36.196 --> 0:22:40.396 that point, and Magic Man. We hadn't written Barracoutie yet, 0:22:40.876 --> 0:22:44.356 but those two other songs we would, you know, we'd 0:22:44.396 --> 0:22:48.516 play our normal club set and then we'd sneak Crazy 0:22:48.556 --> 0:22:51.556 on You in and we'd sneak Magic Men in and 0:22:51.636 --> 0:22:54.676 see what the audience did. And at first they were 0:22:54.756 --> 0:22:58.956 kind of like what, And then they never heard that 0:22:59.436 --> 0:23:03.076 song before, so they were used to let Zeppelin and 0:23:03.116 --> 0:23:04.796 Elton John and the other stuff. 0:23:04.796 --> 0:23:06.876 We were playing the stuff they know. 0:23:07.676 --> 0:23:11.356 Yeah, and then by bit they started to respond to 0:23:11.436 --> 0:23:15.996 those two songs live till it happened that they were 0:23:16.036 --> 0:23:20.476 actually coming unglued. They were applauding and standing up and 0:23:20.676 --> 0:23:23.836 liking those. So we pulled him out to when we 0:23:24.556 --> 0:23:26.756 went and opened for the Bechis and Rod Stewart, we 0:23:26.796 --> 0:23:29.516 actually dared to play our original. 0:23:29.116 --> 0:23:31.556 Stuff, and didn't you get a huge reaction when you 0:23:31.596 --> 0:23:33.276 opened for Rod Stuart because it had been on the 0:23:33.396 --> 0:23:34.356 radio at that point. 0:23:34.876 --> 0:23:40.236 Yeah, we didn't really know it. The communications in those 0:23:40.356 --> 0:23:42.436 days were not like they are now, where you know 0:23:42.516 --> 0:23:45.756 everything that goes on with your record every minute, you know, 0:23:47.356 --> 0:23:50.916 and we didn't really understand that dreamboat And he was 0:23:50.956 --> 0:23:56.436 being played in Montreal by this disc jockey named Doug Pringle. 0:23:57.316 --> 0:24:00.316 He believed in us and he played the record. So 0:24:00.396 --> 0:24:04.156 when we got to Montreal opening for Rod Stewart, we 0:24:04.196 --> 0:24:06.836 walked out on stage to a house full of lip 0:24:06.876 --> 0:24:10.596 matches because they knew our recorda we were just this 0:24:10.636 --> 0:24:14.316 little opener. But wow, you know. So that was just 0:24:14.356 --> 0:24:17.596 a way that we started out in Canada. 0:24:17.716 --> 0:24:19.836 Did that motivate you to want to go in and 0:24:19.916 --> 0:24:25.156 immediately start writing more songs and continue with that specific 0:24:25.756 --> 0:24:28.636 sound of the songs that were doing well at the time. 0:24:29.876 --> 0:24:32.796 Yeah, we wanted to just go ahead and keep on writing, 0:24:32.876 --> 0:24:36.396 you know. And just the experience of writing the first 0:24:36.636 --> 0:24:40.476 two songs was so great and just so much fun 0:24:41.316 --> 0:24:44.956 that we just wanted to keep going. And some of 0:24:44.956 --> 0:24:48.236 the songs we wrote were more rock, but then there 0:24:48.236 --> 0:24:50.196 were a whole bunch of songs on Dreabo Eddie like 0:24:50.316 --> 0:24:53.956