Co-founder, guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Nancy Wilson of Heart releases her first EVER solo album, You and Me, TODAY via her new label, Carry On Music. The album was recorded primarily in Wilson’s California home studio, working with band members and special guests remotely. “Being off the road last year from touring with Heart, and at home with my good guitars and amps out,” Wilson says, “I felt like I was once again able to reconnect with my pre-Heart self, my college-girl self, creating poetic, intimate and romantic songs, which pretty much is what I first brought in to Heart.”

Also announced today, Wilson will join the Seattle Symphony for a highly anticipated live show as part of the Symphony’s Essential Series.Wilson will perform all-new arrangements created specifically for the show by the Essential Series curator and arranger Andrew Joslyn. The program will draw from her new solo album as well as feature Heart classics. The show is set to take place on Friday, July 9 at the Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA with a limited audience and will also be streamed live via the Symphony’s streaming platform, Seattle Symphony Live. Tickets for the streamed concert are $30 and go on sale May 10; included with each ticket purchase is a digital download of Wilson’s new album You and Me. Tickets for the digital concert can be purchased at live.seattlesymphony.org. The concert will be viewable to ticket holders for one full week after the initial livestream on Friday, July 9, at 8 p.m. PDT.

Many of the tracks on You and Me are originals, but Wilson decided to also include a handful of covers by a few of her favorites, including a female perspective of Pearl Jam’s “Daughter,” a stirring turn of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” featuring Sammy Hagar, and an ethereal cover of the Cranberries “Dreams,” featuring Liv Warfield (Prince) from Wilson’s previous band Roadcase Royale.

The remaining eight tracks are originals, mostly acoustic ballads, but there are also some rousing rockers like “Party at the Angel Ballroom” which features a superstar backing band, including Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses and Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters.  The album ends with a song that captures the full spectrum of loss, love and redemption in one instrumental coda. Titled “4 Edward,” it is Wilson’s tribute to Eddie Van Halen, whose 2020 loss deeply affected the Heart guitarist.

Nancy’s cover of “Daughter” is the newest single from the album and will also be featured in the Netflix film I Am All Girls out on May 14th. Of the recording, Wilson said “I initially recorded ‘Daughter’ for the film, a powerful story about sex trafficking in South Africa. I was drawn to the global tragedy of human trafficking and the lyrics sung from a women’s perspective also mirror the power of the girls untold stories. This film is a revelation and sheds meaning and light on these realities. Trafficking is a global phenomenon that impacts women around the world. I recorded this version as an anthem to them.”  Watch the film trailer, here.

With her band Heart, Nancy Wilson has recorded 16 albums, sold over 35 million albums worldwide and has four Grammy nominations. She had previously released one other album with just her name on it, Live at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, which captured her playing a set of covers and new songs in 1999. But considers this her first true solo album, a positive creative move amid a surreal year of loss; life during lock down.

“I created this new album with the idea of bringing something aspirational for all of us having been through such a tough year,” explainsWilson of why she released a solo album now.  “I particularly loved being reunited with my good old reliable friends like favorite guitars and classic amps, mics and notebooks. Not to mention my favorite Heart players from Seattle. Plus having the chance to sing all the songs was especially sweet for me.”