If you would've told us back in the golden days of Heart, back in the "Barracuda" days, that Ann Wilson would one day record a version of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" featuring guest vocalists Shawn Colvin and Rufus Wainwright, Seattlest would've told you to shut the hell up. But now here we are in 2007, when Mandy Moore and Babyface have gone and recorded folk music records, or at least records that show off as folkie as Mandy Moore and Babyface can possibly be.

Here we are in Seattle, which has arguably (?) started turning toward more traditional folk-infused music (we even hear it in Death Cab). And suddenly the idea of Ann Wilson stepping away from her long-time collaboration with her sister Nancy to team up with Wainwright, Colvin, kd lang, Alison Krauss and others to perform some classic Americana tunes doesn't seem as absurd anymore.

September 11th is going to be one big whopper of a day for CD releases in the Americana world. Joe Henry, Ani DiFranco, two Pete Seeger discs on Appleseed records (including duets with Bruce Springsteen). It's a perfect time for local rock icon Ann Wilson to make her leap into Americana with the release of her solo debut, Hope and Glory, where she covers Dylan, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin and others.

But why are we telling you this now? Because there's still time to get tickets to see Heart at WaMu Theatre for next Thursday, August 23rd. You'll recall other Seattlests are quite fond of that new venue (ahem).

Heart at WaMu Theater // 8:00, Aug. 23 // $59.50