Dan Wilson remembers the first time he attended a Grammy Awards ceremony; it was back in 1999 when his band Semisonic’s “Closing Time” was nominated for Best Rock Song. "This is crazy,” Wilson recalls thinking as he chatted with people like Bono. “I'm basically hanging out with my record collection right now."

Semisonic didn’t take home the award that year (it went to Alanis Morissette for “Uninvited”), but Wilson has since taken home Grammy Awards for Song of the Year (The Chicks, "Not Ready to Make Nice" in 2007) and Album of the Year (Adele's 21 in 2012). This year — on Sunday, in fact — Wilson is headed back to the Grammy Awards as he is nominated for Song of the Year along with co-writer Jon Batiste for “Butterfly,” and with co-writer Chris Stapleton in the category of Best Country Song for “White Horse.”

Then on March 10, Wilson — who is originally from Minnesota but now lives in Los Angeles — will go to the Oscars where he and Batiste are nominated for Best Original Song on their co-write of “It Never Went Away,” which appears in the documentary American Symphony.

But none of that happens before Wilson plays two shows at the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis this Friday and Saturday. Despite his busy schedule, Wilson connected with Jill Riley on The Current’s Morning Show to talk about what he’s described as a “very fizzy” year so far. You can listen to the interview in the audio player above, and read a transcript below.

Related:

• Jan. 23, 2024: Oscar nominations — full list
• Jan. 24, 2024: Closing time? No, it’s Oscar time for Minnesotan Dan Wilson

Interview Transcript

Edited for time and clarity.

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current. I'm Jill Riley, and I have a special guest this morning here on The Current's Morning Show. Well, you would know him from the band Semisonic, and just last year put out a new record, Little Bit of Sun. But he's also a singer and songwriter, and well known as a collaborator. Now that song you just heard Chris Stapleton, "White Horse," co-written by the one and only Dan Wilson, who joins me to check in here on The Current Morning Show. Hello, Dan.

Dan Wilson: Hey, Jill. How's it going? 

Jill Riley: It's going. You have a busy weekend coming up; you'll be spending some time in Minneapolis. And then those Grammy Awards are on Sunday. So first, Dan, I wonder if we could talk about your two shows coming up in the Twin Cities at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis, you'll be playing some music and and telling some stories.

Dan Wilson: Yeah, it's been a while since I've done this type of show; I used to always call them “Words and Music by Dan Wilson.” And it's a kind of an excuse for me to do what I always want to do and tell people the backgrounds of the songs or things that happened when I wrote them or my odd opinions about them. So both nights at Woman's Club are going to be that kind of a show. And I have a lot of songs I want to squeeze in, so I probably won't talk as much as usual, but at least I'll be able to share some of the maybe lesser-known things about being a songwriter and specifically about those songs.

Jill Riley: Yeah, well, the song "White Horse" is up for Best Country Song. So that's a song that you co-wrote with Chris Stapleton, and if I'm not mistaken, that is a songwriters award. So both you and Chris Stapleton up for that Grammy. I wonder if you could talk about that song a little bit, "White Horse" and talk about working with Chris Stapleton.

Dan Wilson: Sure. Chris and I met, it might have been 10 years ago, at an event where he and I were part of a songwriters in the round. You know, there were four of us, and you take turns with each singer-songwriter plays a song, and then the next person introduces their song. And so I think we got through like, three or four songs, each of four people, maybe three songs each. And I came after Chris, and every time he finished singing his songs, I was like, "Oh, no! What am I doing? I'm doomed!" It was so great! Chris' three best songs at the time were already timeless classics, and so I was really, really impressed. And then we basically befriended each other and struck up a collaboration.

So "White Horse" is probably one of the most rock things that we've done; it's very rock. And I kind of wanted to go that direction with him at some point, because he has this riff-rock band called The Jompson Brothers. So we just rocked out. And I'm kind of stunned that it's a No. 1 country hit. Seems like it's a No. 1 Southern-rock-from-the-1970s hit to me.

Jill Riley: Well, I like it. I like some rock and roll in my country music because I think it kind of calls back to a particular time, and almost when, you know, like the Southern rock was a little more popular and you know, on country music radio, I suppose. But yeah, Best Country Song, that's the Grammy nomination with Chris Stapleton for "White Horse."

And then you are also nominated in the category for Song of the Year with Jon Batiste for a song called “Butterfly." And I do want to spend some time talking about you working with with Jon Batiste, because there's another nomination that I want to get your reaction to, as I'm talking with Dan Wilson here on The Current. Dan Wilson in town this weekend, tonight and Saturday at the Woman's Club, and he'll be telling stories behind the music. And then, well, then I suppose you are back to Los Angeles on Sunday.

Dan Wilson: Sunday early morning, I have to come back because I don't want to miss the Grammys. Yeah.

Jill Riley: You don't want to miss that one! You know, I was looking back, you've been nominated before. You have won a couple Grammys before as producer of Album of the Year for Adele's record, 21; Song of the Year with The Chicks, "Not Ready to Make Nice"; but I was looking back to that first nomination when "Closing Time," was nominated for Best Rock Song, and I wonder if you could talk a little bit about just what you remember being at the Grammys for that first nomination with Semisonic, or what it felt like to be nominated for a Grammy the first time.

Dan Wilson: You know, at the time, Semisonic, we were really kind of in our own little bubble, and we didn't really think about the Grammys or consider anyone except for the bands that we were on tours with, you know what I mean? We were very kind of self contained. And I didn't really make much of the Grammys, but going there was kind of amazing. We ended up standing in the kind of snack line with Brian Wilson in front of us, we were all freaking out!

Jill Riley: I bet!

Dan Wilson: The same day, ended up like, I saw Bono and Jimmy Iovine and so I kind of went over and kind of interrupted their conversation and told Bono that I love their music and, you know, stuff like that was like, "Wait a minute, this is crazy. I'm basically hanging out with my record collection right now." We didn't win for "Closing Time," which is really a travesty, I would say; a real injustice. No, I'm kidding. And then after the Grammys and we didn't win for "Closing Time," people were constantly asking me, "What is it like to lose a Grammy Award?"

Jill Riley: Like, "I don't know what it's like to have one; I can't lose something I never had!" You know?

Dan Wilson: What a question!

Jill Riley: Yeah, there could have been the positive spin of just, "What does it feel like to be recognized?"

Dan Wilson: Yeah, it's like you don't think of... Well, I don't know, it's sort of as though saying that a team has lost three Super Bowls. I guess it is kind of depressing, but not really, if you think about it.

Jill Riley: Right. I'm talking with Dan Wilson here on The Current's Morning Show. By the way, Semisonic, as you just mentioned Semisonic, looking forward to April, that show at the Palace Theatre, and you will certainly feel celebrated here in St. Paul this spring. Dan Wilson, so Grammy nominations. Now I want to get your reaction and hear what you have to say about being nominated for an Oscar: Best Original Song, for the song "It Never Went Away," a song that you wrote with Jon Batiste from the documentary, which is streaming on Netflix right now, American Symphony. What was it like to get the news that you're nominated for an Oscar — an Academy Award, Dan?

Dan Wilson: Academy Award, I know. It's just kind of mind blowing. Well, first of all, it's all been a little bit surreal, because I didn't really know that Jon was going to use that song, "It Never Went Away," in the movie. So I thought it was, you know, an outtake. Like I thought, "Oh, shoot, I love that song, but they're not going to use it." So I got a text from Jon with a clip from the end of the movie about him and Suleika with our song in the scene at the very end of the credits roll, and I'm like, "Wait a minute, what's happening? This forgotten song? OK." And his note to me — this is classic Jon — he didn't explain to me the context or the situation or anything. He said, "Do you think the harp in the choruses is too much?" Also, "Which of the background vocal ideas do you like the best?" And so I launched into, like, giving him notes on the song, and then he said, "OK, gotta go!" And then I still didn't know what we were really talking about.

But then I found out the song was in the movie. And it was pretty shocking to me anyway — since I thought the song was an outtake and was never going to see the light of day — it was pretty shocking to find out that we were shortlisted for the Best Original Song Oscar. And I thought to myself, "Oh, well, it's not going to be one of the final nominees." But a friend of mine who's a filmmaker said, "Oh, yeah, it's gonna be one of the five. It'll be on the list."

And I said, "Are you sure? How do you know?"

"Because I just know it. Don't worry, you're on."

So the morning of the nomination announcement, I got a whole bunch of texts from the East Coast at about 5:30 in the morning L.A. time, and so I was awakened, groggily, to the news that we were nominated, which is pretty amazing.

Jill Riley: Yeah, that's a huge honor. Congratulations on the nomination. And that song is really used, I would say, to great effect, and quite beautifully at the end of that documentary. Again, if you haven't seen it yet, it's called American Symphony. It's streaming on Netflix. And it's a pretty incredible look into the life of Jon Batiste as you would know him publicly, but then, you know, such an intimate look at what was going on in his personal life and with his partner who became his wife, Suleika, going through some pretty serious health issues. And so, to watch him and her go through that together, and then watch him, you know, how he has to continue on with being a public figure, but then what he was dealing with in his personal life. I think that documentary started as one thing and kind of ended up being another.

Dan Wilson: I think they didn't realize how many kind of epic events would happen during the making, when they when they set out to make the documentary. I think it was mostly going to be about Jon's symphonic piece that was going to be played in New York City. But yeah, the movie is very affecting. I thought it was very beautiful, and I love that the song — I mean, the song really came out of conversations that Jon and I had about what was going on in his and Suleika's life, and what was eventually going to be the movie. So it feels like an appropriate place for it, and I'm probably I'm really, really lucky that they didn't put it on the album, because now it was eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award. Good grief!

Jill Riley: So, let's see, now, just on the list, let's see ... and the the Tony nomination will come down the line; the Emmy nomination, you know, if anything, the Semisonic jukebox musical. I mean, come on! We're just gonna start brainstorming here.

Dan Wilson: Nice! Thank you, Jill. This is good. This is really some good strategy we're working on. I really did not get the jump on the EGOT like some people do. So. I'm definitely not going to count any chickens before they're hatched. But if even, what a friend of mine calls a GO — a Grammy and an Oscar — that would be incredible. I mean, it's all kind of unbelievable.

Jill Riley: Yeah, we'll use it as as we cheer you on: "Let's GO, Dan. Let's GO, Dan." Dan Wilson here on The Current's Morning Show. Again, this weekend tonight and tomorrow at the Woman's Club in Minneapolis. We look forward to Semisonic performing in early April at the Palace Theatre. And this weekend, Dan will be at the Grammys, so I don't know if we'll get a reaction shot. You know, the the camera angle is always fun when you're the one who gets to give the reaction shot, but best of luck and congratulations on all this recognition.

Dan Wilson: Thank you so much. It's been a pretty fizzy season — pretty champagne-y kind of couple of months.

Jill Riley: All right. Well, Dan, we'll see you soon. And thanks for taking the time.

Dan Wilson: Thank you, Jill.

Jill Riley: You are listening to The Current, and here's that song nominated in the Best Original Song category for the Oscars, "It Never Went Away," and it's on The Current.

External Links

Dan Wilson – official site

Jon Batiste – official site

Chris Stapleton – official site