Confessions of a Fanboy

Sometimes I surprise even myself. I was skimming my deluge of e-mails when I saw something about a solo debut from Dan Wilson. Even though I’ve got a pretty good memory for music, I still think I should get a few points for remembering him as the front man from Semisonic.

I don’t own any Semisonic CDs. I did buy the one with “Closing Time,” but I don’t have it anymore. Despite that, I found myself really curious in a Wilson solo album. That was before I found out Rick Rubin helped produce it and that it’s being released on Rubin’s American Recordings label. I’m more than curious about this record now.

In addition to Rubin, Wilson was able to enlist some great musicians to help make the record. Sheryl Crow does backing vocals on “Sugar,” Benmont Tench of The Heartbreakers plays piano on several tracks, Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) plays acoustic guitar on “Free Life,” and Gary Louris (the Jayhawks) contributes a guitar solo on “Cry.”

I’m more than curious about this album, I have to hear it. In the press release announcing the Oct. 16 release date of Free Life, Wilson discusses creating the album in a house where he was staying, built in 1903.

“I found a few books of sheet music from that era at antique stores and spent lots of time singing the songs at the piano: chords and melodies the house probably hadn’t heard for a hundred years,” he says. “‘When the batch became big enough, I hatched a plan to borrow a recording studio and set it up in the living room and ballroom of the place.

“I’d learned a lot about digital recording over the couple of previous years, but I was determined to use very little of what I’d learned,” Wilson explains. “I had just finished reading the book Shakey, a biography of Neil Young, and his insistence on live recording, capturing the moment, starting with the vocal, avoiding overdubs…all these things inspired the hell out of me.”

Wilson had most of the album done by the time he played it for Rubin. Rubin liked what he heard so much he signed on to help Wilson finish the record.

“When Rick and I started working together, eight of the songs were already recorded, and several of them needed only a little thing here or there,” Wilson recalls. “Some of his prescriptions were really subtle and helpful. On the other hand, several songs that had puzzled me—‘Cry,’ ‘Free Life,’ ‘Come Home Angel’ and a few others—were either re-recorded with Rick or completely revamped with his help.”

I’m sold. I have to hear this album now.

Filed under: Tags: A Day Late and a Dollar Short, Dan Wilson