Long before she became famous in the '70s as a member of Seattle hard-rock band Heart, singer and guitarist Nancy Wilson sang simple, expressive folk songs at college coffeehouse "hootenannies."
"There's nothing quite as raw and honest as one person and one instrument," said Wilson. "It's kind of a rare thing these days with our short attention spans and disposable, theme-park-ride mentality about music."Wilson returns in spirit to her coffeehouse days with her first solo album, "Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop" (Epic Records). The 13-song album was recorded in Santa Monica in March 1996 while Wilson was in Los Angeles working on the score for the movie "Jerry Maguire," directed by husband Cameron Crowe.
"It was the first time since my college coffeehouse days (that) I'd done anything so nakedly human and fun," said the friendly, easygoing singer-songwriter in a phone interview from New York.
With Wilson's sister, Ann, on lead vocals, Heart rose from the Northwest's thriving rock scene of the '70s to become a glamorous, globe-trotting pop-metal band with a Led Zeppelin flair. The group's 1976 debut album, "Dreamboat Annie," sold more than 2 million copies, fueled by the hit singles "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man."
But Nancy Wilson's longtime dream of recording a solo album remained on hold until she moved to Los Angeles to work on "Jerry Maguire." One day she strolled into McCabe's, an atmospheric guitar shop with a cozy back room for live shows, to look for instruments to use on the film score.
"Someone at the store recognized me and said, 'Hey, you wanna come in and play our back room sometime?' " Wilson said.
Two months later, she returned for two concerts -- with Astrid Young and Seattle songwriter Kristen Barry as background vocalists.
"I just did (the concerts) for the heck of it," Wilson said. "And I thought, well, I might as well put them on (tape) while I'm here.
"Afterward, I gave copies to several people as gifts. And it wasn't long before they were saying, 'Hey, you should really think about releasing this.' "
The songs on "Live at McCabe's" are serene and instrospective, yet the power of Wilson's distinctive vocals and guitar playing give the album a Heart-like feel. The album includes several songs from the Heart repertoire: "Angels," "Even It Up" and "These Dreams," one of Wilson's signature songs.
"It's a huge handful on acoustic guitar," Wilson said of "These Dreams." "It's very challenging."
Wilson also pays tribute to some of her favorite artists, including Paul Simon ("Kathy's Song"), Joni Mitchell ("A Case of You") and Peter Gabriel ("In Your Eyes"). The Gabriel song is an upbeat acoustic arrangement featuring Wilson's raw, sweet vocals.
Wilson's new original songs are as mystical and romantic as a fairy tale, a reflection of her songwriting excursions to the Oregon Coast, where the Wilson sisters own neighboring beach houses.
"Ann bought a place there first, in the late '70s or early '80s," Wilson said. "Then about six years later, I bought the place across the street. So we've got a sort of compound there."
Many of the new songs on "Live at McCabe's" were written at the ocean.
"Ann and I always try to do our writing there. We've been doing it for years," Wilson said.
"It's nice to get out where it's big and rugged and desolate and you're in the elements. A lot of the new songs are about fires and stars and ocean and rain. . . . Those are my muses."
But one of the best originals on the album is "The Rain Song." It was the first song Wilson wrote, at age 12. "When (our family) first moved to Seattle, I fell in love with the rain -- the sound of it, the smell of it, the romance of it.
"In some ways it's my best song, the best I've ever written, because it's so simple. Everyone loves it.
"When you're 12, you have no gauge for what's hip or not hip -- or even who you are."
Wilson dedicated the song "Sister" to the women in her life.
"I wanted to write a song, not only for Ann, but for the other women who are my mentors. So each verse focuses on one or two people."
Wilson believes that her history as a member of Heart has made people curious about what she can do on her own.
"I've always been a little bit in the background as a singer and even as an acoustic-guitar player, although I crank it up and rock with my Marshall stacks, too."
In June, the sisters Wilson will team up for an acoustic-music tour. The two will alternate on lead vocals, and both will play guitar. Nancy also will play mandolin, dulcimer, autoharp and keyboards, while Ann will play bass and flute.
"It's going to be unusual for us to go out without a wall of sound (behind us)," Wilson said.