Dan Wilson

Since the late 1980s Dan Wilson has held cult-hero status within American smart pop through his role as guitarist in Trip Shakespeare and Semisonic; with the arrival of the twenty-first century he has pursued a low-key solo trajectory. Wilson entered the world on May 20, 1961, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was raised; mirroring the musical fervor of his brother Matt Wilson, he acquired guitar skills while still a teenager. Although he majored in art at Harvard University, Wilson returned to Minneapolis after graduation and found that Matt’s locally favored trio Trip Shakespeare—a group that merged pop hooks with a psychedelic sense of aural wanderlust—was seeking a second guitarist. Dan entered the lineup shortly after the band’s 1986 debut album Applehead Man and made his first recorded appearance on the 1988 release Are You Shakespearienced? Trip Shakespeare secured a contract with A&M Records in 1989 and cut two albums plus one EP for the label: Across the Universe in 1990, Lulu in 1991, and Volt in 1992. The ensemble’s support never expanded beyond an ardent cult following, so A&M declined to issue the Volt EP, which instead surfaced on the Minneapolis independent imprint Twin/Tone.

Once A&M released Trip Shakespeare from its roster and the members went separate ways, Dan Wilson devoted himself to songwriting before assembling Semisonic in 1995. The new trio, completed by former Trip Shakespeare bassist John Munson and drummer Jacob Slichter, retained Wilson’s pop sensibility yet favored more immediately accessible melodies; the band garnered favorable notices and a loyal audience for its 1995 EP Pleasure and its first full-length album, 1996’s The Great Divide, Semisonic’s inaugural MCA Records release. The 1998 album Feeling Strangely Fine delivered a substantial commercial breakthrough, yielding the hit singles “Closing Time” and “Secret Smile” and achieving platinum certification. Although 2001’s All About Chemistry earned warm reviews and the single “Chemistry” charted in the U.K., the album failed to connect with American buyers, prompting Semisonic to enter a quiet hiatus while still making occasional live appearances and contributing to compilations.

With Semisonic largely inactive, Wilson concentrated on songwriting and production, helming albums for Mike Doughty, Epic Hero, the New Standards, and Storyville while co-writing material with Jewel, Jason Mraz, and the Dixie Chicks—including the latter group’s “Not Ready to Make Nice,” which received the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2007. Following that success Wilson became a sought-after collaborator, supplying songs for Adele (earning a 2012 Grammy for work on 21), Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Josh Groban, P!nk, and numerous other pop and country artists. Concurrently he maintained his own recording career; a set of demos reached producer Rick Rubin through mutual acquaintance Sheryl Crow, resulting in a contract with American Recordings.

Wilson’s solo debut, the 2007 album Free Life, received strong critical notices yet modest sales; subsequent projects appeared on his own Ballroom Music imprint, among them the 2009 concert recording Live at the Pantages and Minneapolis 2010, which captured the first joint performance by Dan & Matt Wilson since Trip Shakespeare disbanded. Three years later the brothers issued another live document, Minneapolis 2013, and the complete Trip Shakespeare lineup reunited as surprise guests at a New Standards holiday concert in December 2013. Wilson also launched a series of intimate “Words and Music” shows featuring songs he had written or co-written for other performers, and in autumn 2013 he released the single “Disappearing” on the singles-only label Canvas Club, announcing it as the first of several precursors to a new studio album.

In April 2014 Wilson issued his second solo album, Love Without Fear, which included guest contributions from Sara Bareilles, Missy Higgins, and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. Over the ensuing years he continued writing and producing for a wide array of artists ranging from Phantogram to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. For his next solo project Wilson reinterpreted songs originally created for others, presenting his own arrangements and productions on the 2017 release Re-Covered. In addition to these activities Wilson maintains a parallel practice as a visual artist working in paint and pen-and-ink drawings and occasionally performs with John Munson and Matt Wilson in the Twilight Hours.