I spent part of my Christmas holiday 1991 in an A-frame cabin with a woodburning stove in the still snow-covered woods among the hills and "hollers" of Central Indiana's Brown County . But we weren't there for skiing or even simply to chill out . Instead , I was there to record the private rehearsal for the upcoming John Mellencamp tour .

On Ann Wilson's birthday in 2007, here was a present from her : a highly personal solo album of carefully chosen covers, Hope and Glory,  at a time when US wars were raging in two separate countries with no end in sight. And the "A" guest list of performers with whom Ann duets  include no less than Elton John, k.d.lang, Alison Krauss, Wynonna Judd, even sister from Heart, Nancy Wilson.

You can dock me points for the minimalist recorded sound, but Steve Forbert's "Rock While I Can Rock" scores big time in the attitude column now even more than when he performed this in 1992. Recorded live solo one man band right off the dance…