In one of the most easily recognizable rock songs of all time, the jagged guitars and propulsive rhythm of Heart’s “Barracuda” come barreling at listeners like a pack of wild animals. While it’s easy to get swept up in the music, a listen to vocalist Ann Wilson’s lyrics reveals that the song is exposing a despicable character with lines like: “You lying so low in the weeds/ I bet you gonna ambush me.”

From a tour bus in Iowa, Nancy Wilson, who plays guitar and sings in Heart, reveals what inspired the 1977 hit, which became the hard rock band’s signature song. Wilson says that her sister Ann was responding with righteous indignation to what Heart viewed as the dark side of the music industry.

“We met up with some pretty unsavory characters in the business,” she says. “The one guy that Ann wrote those words about was really a slime ball. He kind of took it a little too far. He said you and your sister are so sexy together. You must be gay together. There was all this innuendo that we really didn’t appreciate. We were just trying to be artists, not pole dancers.”

“THERE WAS ALL THIS INNUENDO THAT WE REALLY DIDN’T APPRECIATE. WE WERE JUST TRYING TO BE ARTISTS, NOT POLE DANCERS.”

This Sunday, Heart will surely do “Barracuda” when they perform at the first ever Monterey Rock Festival, which also features local heavies Vent, guitar prodigy Tyler Bryant and Billy Squier, who is known for the ’80s hit “The Stroke.” Even though Heart has done the number countless times over the years, Nancy says that performing “Barracuda” live still gets her excited.

“That song is always, always fun to play,” she says. “It’s like riding a horse where you get to gallop.”

Over the past few years, Nancy has noticed more and more young people at Heart shows due, in a large part, to the popularity of the video game Guitar Hero. It inspired the legendary female guitarist to pick up a Guitar Hero controller and try to tackle her own band’s “Barracuda.”

“I had problems getting it right,” she says. “I’ll stick to a real guitar, I guess.”

Since releasing their debut album, Dreamboat Annie, in 1975, the only constant members of Heart have been Nancy and Ann Wilson. The fruits of their collaboration have yielded many classic rock songs including “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man.” Nancy says that being in a rock band with her own sister is not what some folks might expect. “People always think that because we are sisters, we probably don’t get along,” she says. “But we really are each other’s best compadres. We really love being in a band together. It’s not a very interesting story, because there’s no conflict with us.”

After 35 years of playing together, Nancy is still impressed with what her sister Ann contributes to Heart. “What Ann brings to the band is something that’s straight from above,” she says. “She was born with a gift that is that voice. There are not a lot of rock bands that could brag about their lead singer like I could brag about ours. She’s a force of nature, basically.”

Currently, Heart is working on a new CD with producer Ben Mink, who has made albums by k.d. lang and the Barenaked Ladies. Nancy says that the 10 songs the group has done so far have a “surprisingly earthy sound.”

“It’s not a digital construct whatsoever,” she says. “It’s really a human conversation between musicians.”

Also performing at the Monterey Rock Festival is 18-year-old rocker Tyler Bryant. Bryant says he first became introduced to rock music in first grade, when a music teacher showed his class a video of Elvis Presley performing. The screening made a deep impression on the elementary school student, who decided to emulate his newfound idol by dying his hair black and dressing in a gold lamé jacket. “It was like Halloween every day,” Bryant says.

With a skyrocketing career, Bryant now has no need to imitate other rock musicians. In 2007, Bryant took home the Robert Johnson Foundation’s New Generation Award, which is given to some of the most promising young blues musicians. Even more impressive, the guitarist was invited to Eric Clapton’s 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival, a guitar summit that included appearances by top rock and blues musicians Clapton, Jeff Beck, B.B. King and John Mayer.

Eight months ago, the Texas native moved to Nashville, where he hopes to record his debut CD. Bryant says he has already written over 150 songs including the hard-rock-meets-funk riffing “Bittersweet” and the seven-minute-long “Who I Am,” a rocker with a monstrous wah-wah inflected guitar solo tunneling through its midsection.

Before coming to Monterey, Bryant had performed on several bills with Heart. Those shows by the young player have won Bryant some new fans, including Heart’s Nancy Wilson. “Tyler is amazing,” she says. “He’s super talented. We went out and watched him last time we played with him. He’s so good. He’s just fantastic.”

HEART, BILLY SQUIER, TYLER BRYANT AND VENT play the Monterey Rock Festival 1pm to 7:30pm Sunday, September 27, at the Monterey Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairground Road, Monterey. $35/general admission; $55/reserved; $75/VIP. Tickets available at www.ticketmaster.com or 372-5863.