A talk with Dan Knudsen
Folksinger Dan Knudsen has been playing and recording his original music in Portland to a slowly but steadily building group of diehard devotees. Knudsen has become known for his garrulous, guileless demeanor and striking subject matter, ranging from Jesus to outer space to sharks.
His albums include Sun Song; Grass, Grain and Appleseed; Beaches and Zoos;Live at Strange Maine; and a “Best of” collection with two previously unreleased songs. Knudsen’s next studio album, Outer Space, is expected to be released this summer.
This body of work, along with Dan’s unmistakable voice and over-the-top performance style, have inspired fans to put on a special tribute show in his honor. Called “Danapalooza,” the Fri., Jan. 19, show at Goats Head Soup (formerly Acoustic Coffee) will feature “Danfans” covering their favorite Knudsen originals. Performers will include Don Dumont, Jason Lambert, Oscar DelSebastien, Jim Devine, Line of Force, Giraffe Attack, and Dead End Armory.
The Bollard: What is Danapalooza?
Knudsen: It’s a Dan Knudsen tribute concert in my honor. There will be several other local singers and bands doing covers of my songs, and there was actually a long waiting list for that, believe it or not. Some people didn’t make it on.
It’s a real honor. I can’t believe that so many people are doing this for me this early in my career. I’m only into my seventh year, you know. I started my recording career in 2000, and it really means a lot to me; it means a ton to me.
I won’t be performing in that show, but I’m going to be there to watch and listen, and I’m gonna give a little speech at the end of the show giving everybody my personal thanks and credits. I just might be asking for tissues throughout that evening [laughs].
Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?
Yeah, the first song that I ever wrote, well… I can’t really remember what the first one was. There were lots of songs I wrote when I was a teenager that I don’t have out now, and I wouldn’t dare record and release them. I think I’m using good judgment there, because I’m really not proud of them. But basically, they’re the roots of Dan Knudsen, and nobody really knows what those are except me and my family – my parents.
What are your top five musical influences?
Well, my top five when I was growing up were, let’s see, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Paxton, Peter Paul and Mary, and The Kingston Trio. I used a lot of the same elements in some of my songs that they used, but I never really tried to be like any of them. I still consider my style of folk music to be purely my own.
Is your music inspired by religion?
Some of it is. My Christian music is. I don’t really consider myself a Christian artist, even though I’ve written a couple of Christian songs and I’ve had some great success there with, like, ‘Ministers of Faith,’ and ‘Jesus is the King.’
[A passing Danfan interrupts us briefly.]
I consider myself more of a Gospel artist, because that’s what they call that style of music is ‘Christian Gospel.’ At least that’s what they used to call it in the old days, but now it’s more like Christian music – they took the Gospel out of it.
I think I’m more of a Gospel artist, because my music has a lot of energy in it, so it’s good for moving to. And there’s really nothing in the world like the Gospel and, you know, ‘the Good News,’ and the optimism, and positivity, the happiness and all that.
How is your music inspired by science fiction?
Well, a lot of my songs have been inspired by science fiction/fantasy as well as action/adventure, and I do watch a lot of movies in my spare time. What I do is I take the lines that are spoken in a lot of those movies and I turn them into lyrics. I’ve read some books, too, that I’ve used for the same purpose.
My songs do make a lot of reference to various sci-fi and adventure films like,Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, and E.T. and The X Files and Star Trek and all those different franchises. And… Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter.
If you had a choice between landing a major record deal and taking a short spaceship ride with friendly aliens, which would you choose?
Well, I suppose it’s possible that someday I’ll be offered the chance to do music full-time and go into it for fame and wealth, but I don’t feel strongly enough about it because there’s too many other things I can do. I’m a man of numerous talents, so I would have to say that my choice would be going on a spaceship ride with friendly aliens, because I would give anything to travel the universe and go all over the solar system and maybe some more of the universe [laughs].
What are some of your other talents?
Well, um, fitness instruction; ushering, which I do at my church; and working with children, which I also do at my church – I teach Sunday school. And, um, cooking. I really enjoy that. And, let’s see… Those are most of my major top talents.
If you were going to be stuck on a deserted island for three weeks, what three items would you bring?
OK, I have three items in mind: my guitar, a set of weights, and my Bible, because those are two of my other interests that we mentioned before: exercise and religion.
Is there anything else we should know about your music that we haven’t yet discussed?
Well, one thing that I was planning to say about my music that I haven’t mentioned yet is that a lot of the songs that I like to write are ones that thrill people. I kind of consider myself a little bit like the Rambo of folk music, because I’m a big, muscular guy who writes these songs that are very thrilling, that have to do with adventure.
Some of my music is fun and some of it is more serious – it has to do with very mature themes that are very important. So I like to entertain and educate.
