Today, however, he’s comfortable in the role as a man of words and melodies who’s mostly behind the scenes.Īs for his process, Wilson says it varies depending on the artist he’s collaborating with. When you play a song live in front of a crowd, you know if it’s right or not.” “How could a songwriter write songs for people to enjoy without ever having the experience of the feedback and the kind of connection you have from an audience? It’s so instructive. “I know a lot of songwriters who’ve never been performers and I just can’t understand that,” he says. 25).įor Wilson, it’s essential that his creative DNA is as a songwriter and a performer. (A deluxe version of the album, packaged with a hard-cover book containing 56 pages of drawings, essays and lyrics, is due on Aug. The sessions, featuring a band that included Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas, ended up lasting about three weeks, but Wilson says they were successful in capturing the vibe they were seeking. Viola felt that way the songs written with various artists would have a cohesive feel. We could mix it on Saturday and be done,'” Wilson recalls. And we do it with a live band, you sing live and we all get it all happening in about a week. “He said, ‘I’ll only do it with you if we go - live to two-inch tape at one of the great old studios in L.A. “I needed a couple of other better songs.”įive years later, Wilson thought he had enough material to fit the bill with a mix of hits and “songs I wanted people to hear,” but the project didn’t begin to become a reality until a lunch meeting with his friend, producer, guitarist and fellow songwriter Mike Viola (now an A&R executive at Verve Records). “At that time, I thought it was a great idea, but I thought about what I had to offer and I didn’t think it was awesome enough,” Wilson recalls. It was actually a friend of Wilson’s who suggested seven years ago that he do an album of reinterpretations of songs he’d co-written with other artists. “I took some enjoyment in picking some things are maybe less well-known, but I actually think they are as good as the best of the other songs.” He points to “Never Meant to Love You,” originally recorded by folk-rock singer Cory Chisel, and “Landing,” by Matt Wilson, his younger brother and former band mate in his pre-Semisonic combo Trip Shakespeare, as underrated gems that fit that bill. The album includes his stripped down take of Adele’s international chart-topper “Someone Like You,” featuring the Kronos Quartet, as well as his reading of the Dixie Chicks’ three-time Grammy winner “Not Ready to Make Nice.”Īnd yet Wilson says “Re-Covered” isn’t necessarily all about the hits.
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