Heart hasn’t skipped a beat

Ann and Nancy Wilson had decided to grab for the hard-won fruit at the top of the musical tree, and were paying the price.

It was 1975 and the daughters of a Marine Corps officer were playing in the rock band Heart. They were performing in clubs throughout Vancouver, B.C., but it was a near-starvation existence.

Pooled pocket change often bought the groceries, and hope sustained the dream. The brightest ray of hope that year was Heart’s just-released debut album, “Dreamboat Annie.”

“We made the album and it first come out regionally in Vancouver,” Nancy Wilson said during a recent telephone interview. “We were coming back from the grocery store with our 20-pound sack of brown rice and vegetables, which was all we could ever afford to eat.

“Then we heard ‘Magic Man’ on the radio and we started freaking out to the tune of ‘Pull over, pull over, pull over.’ We pulled over so we could listen to it, but we were all yelling and screaming in the car.

“That was such a thrill. The addendum to the story is that for the next few nights, we would call the radio station requesting our songs in various accents so it wouldn’t seem suspect.”

You can bet Heart will perform “Magic Man” on Wednesday evening when the band plays the Charlottesville Pavilion. It’s a certainty Heart also will do “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You” and “These Dreams,” as well as many other hits that are permanently enshrined on the top shelf of rock ’n’ roll’s all-time favorites.

Most will agree that what has defined Heart throughout the years, and ensured its international success, has been Ann Wilson’s incomparable voice and her sister’s impassioned guitar playing. If you need a refresher, type “Heart — Crazy On You performance” into your computer’s search engine and hang on.

“My first guitar was a Stella that was barely playable,” Nancy Wilson said with a laugh in her voice. “But I was so determined to get a sound out of it that I learned how to play it anyway.

“I had to develop really strong fingers and have hands of granite to play that guitar. It got me to the point where, when I played a good guitar, it was like, ‘Wow, this is what it’s supposed to feel like.’ ”

The Wilson sisters grew up in a musically talented family that would sing everything from campfire tunes to English and Irish pub songs at get-togethers. Vinyl records ranging from opera to Ray Charles constantly were spinning on the turntable as well.

To a certain extent, we can thank the boys from Liverpool for inspiring the siblings to want to become rockers. And not just make-believe impersonators, but flailing and wailing true-to-the-soul originals.

“We were little kids when we saw the Beatles on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show,’ ” Wilson said of the Feb. 9, 1964, performance. “It was like being hit by lightning.

“From that point forward we were aimed like pistols to get guitars, learn every chord and learn every Beatle song and make a band and start playing places. That’s what got the ball rolling for us.

“Rock ’n’ roll has always been a freedom against social confinement. It’s always out of the box. At its best, it defies the rules. And so that gives a sense of wild abandonment, and a taste of what they call ‘stolen watermelon.’ It’s sweeter when it’s kind of contraband.”

Age and maturity might not make success taste any sweeter, but it can sure let a person know what parts of it to appreciate.

“Being able to still get up there and perform today is so gratifying,” Wilson said. “It’s a privilege to still be able to do our craft.

“People of all ages, including more and more youngsters, are coming out to the shows. So it’s thrilling, wonderful and rewarding to see that the songs we wrote so many years ago, and even more newer songs, are meaningful to people, still.

“It’s a good meal that was prepared, and it sticks to your ribs.”

To date, Heart has sold more than 30 million records, 21 of them making it into the Top 40. As evidence that the band hasn’t lost a step, Heart was named 2008’s Top Package in Billboard’s touring awards.

On April 22, the sisters were presented with the prestigious American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ ASCAP Founders Award.

The award is given to songwriters who have made pioneering contributions to music by inspiring and influencing their peers.

“Ann and Nancy Wilson have made an indelible mark on rock music history,” ASCAP president and chairman Marilyn Bergman said in a prepared statement.

“Their success and influence helped pave the way for other female artists, and they continue to build their musical legacy with an artistic energy that remains as strong today as when they first started 35 years ago.”

Today, the sisters stand shoulder to shoulder with truly great female rockers like Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee and Janis Joplin. And like true entertainers who see their profession as a calling, not a job, their greatest on-stage pleasure comes from bringing joy and happiness to their audiences.

“When you play live and it sounds good and people are with you, the electricity exchanged between the stage and the audience is something you cannot describe,” Wilson said.

“It’s larger than life, and it’s really addictive.

“All of our live shows this summer are going to be kind of a surprise. We really come to play. We bring the rock and there’s no Pro Tools anywhere. This is live music.

“Generally, the experience is pretty mind blowing, because people don’t come expecting what they leave with. It’s a powerful thing.”

Heart will perform in concert at the Charlottesville Pavilion on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $35 to $67 and can be purchased at Plan 9, online at www. charlottesvillepavilion.musictoday.com or by telephone at (877) 272-8849. If tickets are still available on Wednesday, they can be purchased at the gate.

Details

Heart and Andy Waldeck

7 p.m. Wednesday

Charlottesville Pavilion

$67, $50 and $35

http://www.charlottesvillepavilion.com

(877) CPAV-TIX