Dan Wilson (musician)

For other people named Daniel Wilson, see Daniel Wilson (disambiguation).

Dan Wilson
Background information
Born	20 May 1961 (1961-05-20) (age 50) Minneapolis, Minnesota United States
Genres	Folk-rock, pop, alternative rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, bass, drums
Associated acts	Semisonic, Trip Shakespeare, Dixie Chicks, Adele
Website	Official site

Daniel Dodd "Dan" Wilson (born May 20, 1961 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, Grammy-winning songwriter and producer. He is both a solo artist and the lead singer of the band Semisonic, for which he wrote the hits "Secret Smile," "Closing Time," and "Chemistry." He was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1999 for "Closing Time," which peaked at #1 on the Modern Rock Chart and #6 in the Top 40 Chart overall. Wilson was also a member of Trip Shakespeare from the mid-1980s to early 1990s and of college bands Animal Dance, The Love Monsters and The Floating World in the early 1980s.^[1]

Wilson is perhaps best known currently for his co-writing and collaborations with other artists. He contributed three songs to the album 21 by UK singer songwriter Adele, including the hit single "Someone Like You" which he also co-produced. The song has been #1 in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand and is currently #3 worldwide. Wilson co-wrote six songs for the Josh Groban album Illuminations, including the first single "Hidden Away." Wilson co-wrote six songs with the Dixie Chicks for their 2006 album Taking the Long Way, which garnered the coveted Album of the Year at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Wilson was the recipient of the 2007 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "Not Ready to Make Nice," one of the songs he co wrote with the Dixie Chicks.

Wilson has collaborated with a wide range of other artists including Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Jason Mraz, KT Tunstall, Keith Urban, Carole King, James Morrison, Gin Wigmore, Dierks Bentley, Rachael Yamagata, Gabe Dixon, Engelbert Humperdinck, Mike Doughty, Audrae Mae and Nicole Atkins.

Wilson's critically acclaimed first solo album Free Life was released on October 16, 2007. He produced the album himself, with renowned music guru Rick Rubin serving as executive producer and writing the liner notes. The eponymous title track, "Free Life," was featured in a number of American television programs. Wilson is currently working on his second solo album.

Influences

"I'm heavily influenced by Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Radiohead, Jaco Pastorius, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Neil Young. I'm lightly but happily influenced by Smashing Pumpkins, Elliott Smith, Bryan Adams, Pat Metheny, REM, Sigur Rós. In the past couple of years I've jammed and played music with a lot of different people and those experiences are turning into influences: Mike Doughty, Nickel Creek, Glen Phillips, The Hopefuls, Benmont Tench, Sheryl Crow, there are more. And in the past few years I've written songs and recorded with a lot of new friends and those experiences have also influenced my music: Rick Rubin, Mike Doughty, The Dixie Chicks, Rachael Yamagata, Jason Mraz, Bleu, Gabe Dixon, lots more."^[2]

When asked to describe who he sounds like, he notes "I hope I sound like Neil Young, Sea Change by Beck, Iron and Wine. I know I sound like Semisonic (can't help that!), Beatles but trying not to. I've been listening to a lot of Louis Armstrong lately, somehow that's going to seep into my songwriting."^[2]

Personal life

Dan is married to Diane Espaldon,^[3] and has two daughters - Corazon or "Coco", born in 1997,^[4] and Lily, adopted from the Philippines at age 2 in 2009.^[5] Wilson attended Harvard University where he majored in visual arts (sculpture). He had a successful painting career, represented by Thomas Barry Fine Arts, with his works in numerous private and corporate collections. He set his painting aside in the late 1990s to focus on music. His brother is musician Matt Wilson (musician) of the band The Twilight Hours, whom he also played with in Trip Shakespeare.

Discography

Wilson with Semisonic

• 2010 Dan & Matt Wilson Minneapolis 2010
• 2009 Dan Wilson Live at the Pantages - A 2-CD document of Dan Wilson's concert at Minneapolis' Pantages Theater on December 13, 2008.^[6]
• 2008 "Live At The Electric Fetus"
• 2008 "Be Free EP" digital release
• 2007 Free Life
• 2001 Dan Wilson Live @ the CCC
• 1998 Dan Wilson Live @ Bryant Lake Bowl

Semisonic

• 2003 One Night at First Avenue (live)
• 2001 All About Chemistry
• 1998 Feeling Strangely Fine
• 1996 Great Divide
• 1995 Pleasure EP (EP)
• 1993 Pleasure

Trip Shakespeare

• 1992 Volt (EP)
• 1991 Lulu
• 1990 Across the Universe
• 1989 Are You Shakespearienced?

The Love Monsters

• 1983 Kiss Away The Tears (7")

Featured-on albums

• 2006 For New Orleans - track # 4 "I Can't Hold You"
• 1999 Together in Concert: Live, Bic Runga Featuring Dan Wilson.

Producing and Songwriting Highlights

• Co-wrote the song "Home" from the 2012 Dierks Bentley album Home
• Co-produced and co-wrote the song "Someone Like You'" a #1 single from the 2011 Adele album, 21
• Co-wrote the songs "One and Only" and "Don't You Remember" from the Adele album, 21
• Co-wrote the song "Heavy Boots" from the 2011 Nicole Atkins album Mondo Amore
• Co-wrote the song "Big Promises" from the 2010 Keith Urban album Get Closer^[7]
• Co-wrote the song "Ruling Me" with Rivers Cuomo featured on Weezer's 2010 album, Hurley.
• Co-wrote the songs "Hidden Away," "Higher Window," "Bells of New York City," "Love Only Knows," "War At Home," "If I Walk Away" from the 2010 Josh Groban album Illuminations
• Produced Storyhill's 2010 album Shade of the Trees as well as the band's 2007 album Storyhill.
• Produced Jeremy Messersmith's 2008 album, The Silver City.
• Produced Mike Doughty's 2008 album Golden Delicious and 2005 album Haughty Melodic.
• Co-wrote the song "Not Ready To Make Nice," the 2007 Grammy Award for Song of the Year from the Dixie Chicks album Taking The Long Way
• Co-wrote the songs "The Long Way Around," "Lullabye," " Easy Silence," "Voice Inside My Head," "So Hard" from the Dixie Chicks 2007 album Taking The Long Way

Awards and nominations

• Grammy Awards of 2007 - Song of the Year
  • Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, and Dan Wilson for "Not Ready To Make Nice"* performed by Dixie Chicks
• Grammy Awards of 1999 -Best Rock Song
  • Grammy Nomination for "Closing Time"* performed by Semisonic

References

1. ^ "'Love Monsters' Take First In Council's 'Battle' of Bands" By GILBERT FUCHSBERG, The Harvard Crimson, February 07, 1983, captured at [1] on May 7, 2009
2. ^ ^{a b} "MySpace.com - Dan Wilson". MySpace. http://www.myspace.com/danwilsonmusic. 
3. ^ http://www.modbee.com/2007/10/25/103244/music-review-semisonics-dan-wilson.html
4. ^ http://www.answers.com/topic/semisonic-1
5. ^ http://danwilsonblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/huh-what-happened.html
6. ^ "Dan Wilson Music.com". Dan Wilson. http://www.danwilsonmusic.com. 
7. ^ [2]

External links

• Dan Wilson Official website
• DanWilson on Myspace
• Dan Wilson, March 2011 AOL Spinner interview
• 2010 Dan Wilson interview about Storyhill, covering the making of Shade of the Trees

Persondata
Name	Wilson, Dan
Alternative names
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Date of birth	May 20, 1961
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