Twenty-seven years after their debut, Ann and Nancy Wilson, always Heart's pulse, have finally assumed absolute control of the band. Now, with Nancy producing, they're ready to record their first album of new material in a decade, tentatively titled Heart 101.

"The guitar player has taken over the band," jokes Nancy, who promises a heavy rock record. Adds Ann, "Right now we are driving our own car and writing all our own songs."

Heart emerged in 1976, first generating as much attention for their gender as their music, and eventually evolving into credible hitmakers. In 1984, they signed with Capitol, and scored a series of hits with power ballads written by outside sources. Over the past few years, they've been revisiting their career, planning five album reissues, a box set of rarities and The Essential Heart anthology. And now they are ready to move on.

A new CD/DVD live set, Heart -- Alive in Seattle, features a blend of old hits and left-field covers, as well as four new songs. "These songs are a bonus," Ann says. "We were going to put them on the new album, but we have new songs that are so much better, that rock so much harder. The new album is going to be really loud!"

Maturity has led the sisters in different directions. During Heart's hibernation, Nancy, who has three-year-old twin boys, assembled the musical components for the films of her husband, director Cameron Crowe. Meanwhile, Ann acted in The Vagina Monologues and toured with the Beatles tribute A Walk Down Abbey Road with Todd Rundgren and John Entwistle. Ann also resolved a long-term health problem, submitting to a weight-controlling stomach operation.

"We are not Britney Spears-aged women, or Avril Lavigne-aged women," says Nancy, "so what we talk about in our songs has to be universal."

"How can a fifty-five-year-old possibly find sincere interest in the same concerns as a nineteen-year-old?" Ann agrees.

Still, the Wilsons insist they're a tighter, stronger unit than ever before. "There was so much partying in the Eighties, and I was much weaker-willed," Ann says. "I was more apt to let other people tell me what to do. Nowadays, we have a stronger rod up our back."

Heart tour dates:

6/13: Post Falls, ID, Greyhound Park Amphitheater
6/14: Auburn, WA, White River Amphitheater
6/15: Nampa, ID, Idaho Center
6/17: Englewood, CO, Fiddler's Green Amphitheater
6/19: Houston, H' Town's Arena Theater
6/20: Fort Worth, Billy Bob's
6/21: Memphis, Shelby Farms @ Plough Park
6/22: Atlanta, Chastain Park Amphitheater
6/24: Boca Raton, FL, Mizner Park Amphitheater
6/26: Lake Buena Vista, FL, House of Blues
6/27: Biloxi, MS, Beau Rivage
6/28: Antioch, TN, AmSouth Amphitheater
6/30: North Myrtle Beach, SC, House of Blues
7/1: Portsmouth, VA, NTELOS Pavilion
7/2: Vienna, VA, Wolf Trap
7/3: Wilmington, DE, Kahunaville
7/5: Atlantic City, NJ, Trump Marina
7/6: Mashantucket, CT, Foxwoods Casino
7/9: Hampton Beach, NH, Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
7/10: Boston, FleetBoston Pavilion
7/11: Big Flats, NY, Budweiser Summer Stage
7/12: Cleveland, Scene Pavilion
7/15: Kettering, OH, Fraze Pavilion
7/17: Clio, MI, Clio Amphitheater
7/18: Fond du Lac, WI, Fond Du Lac Fair
7/19: Tinley Park, IL, Tweeter Center
7/20: Cadott, WI, Rock Fest
7/22: Colorado Springs, CO, Pikes Peak Center
7/24: Tucson, AZ, Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater
7/25-26: Temecula, CA, Pechanga Entertainment Center
7/28: Lancaster, CA, Performing Arts Center
7/29-30: Alpine, CA, Viejas Concerts in the Park
8/1-2: Las Vegas, Las Vegas Hilton
8/3: Los Angeles, Greek Theater
8/4: Ventura, CA, Ventura County Fair
8/6-7: Saratoga, CA, Historic Mountain Winery
8/8: Kelseyville, CA, Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa

CHARLES BERMANT
(May 9, 2003)