Gibson TV: The Conversation

In this episode of The Conversation, Nancy Wilson from Heart sits down with Aly & AJ. The Conversation, a Gibson TV Original Series, gives two artists from similar genres and different generations the chance to sit down and discuss their journeys through music. In this wide-ranging discussion, Nancy and Aly & AJ talk about how they initially met and first got together to write songs and how the music they wrote was different than what Aly & AJ were doing at the time. Nancy gathered info from them to figure out their vision and how she could help - what music they listen to, what books they read - trying to get a feel for what they wanted to write about and sound like. Nancy is featured on Aly & AJ’s latest album, “A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun,” playing guitar and singing backing vocals on their song “Listen!!!”.

In this episode, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen sits down with Nick Perri to chat about his early musical life as a drummer, his evolution as a songwriter and player, and his love of buying guitars with history, road scars, and smell, yes smell. Long before he was rocking a 5-neck custom guitar, Rick was a committed bargain hunter, mostly out of necessity because he couldn’t afford new guitars. But before you break out the mini violins for Rick, keep in mind he once found a ’55 Les Paul Goldtop in a bookstore that he paid a whopping sixty-five dollars for. That wasn’t the only good fortune visited upon Nielsen and his bandmates over the years. Rick fondly recounts the “opportunity knocks” moment when Cheap Trick was asked to open some shows for Queen; a gig that led to “big deal” status for the band in Japan, and an indirect ticket to superstardom back home in the states after the release of the live album, Cheap Trick at Budokan.