Dan Fogelberg was born with music streaming through his DNA. In a telephone interview from his second home in Maine, he said, "Both my parents were musicians, they encouraged it in our home."
It is not surprising that one of his earliest remembrances is of music flowing unbidden from him. "I remember when I was 3 or 4, my mother took me to a movie. I wasn't even able to be aware of what the movie was about. I just sang all the way through it. There were a lot of little kids in the audience, so I guess I didn't bother anyone. I just loved the music coming to me from the screen."And the music has been "coming" to him ever since. With close to 24 years in the business and seven platinum albums to his credit, Fogelberg continues to pull in a crowd wherever he tours.
Dan Fogelberg will be in concert at Wolf Mountain (ParkWest) on Friday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at all Smith'sTix outlets or by calling 467-TIXX (8499). Special guest: Eliza Gilkyson.
His latest album (number 14), "River of Souls" wends through African, Caribbean, Spanish and Brazilian rhythms. "It seems like I'm writing more acoustic now, more ballads. Most people thought `River of Souls' was a major departure for me. I'm so inside the music that for me, it's hard to see. You get what comes as you go through your life," he said.
Fogelberg said during the interview that he celebrated his 43rd birthday in August. Asked about any life changes since turning 40 he said, "I've noticed a deepening of my philosophical and psychological processes. It's not that I haven't been aware of them previously. And I'm not sure if it's because I'm 40 or because I have a successful marriage. A successful partnership opens you up to things you can't find on your own."
Describing the writing process ("River of Souls" has 10 original Fogelberg compositions), he said, "The writing never ends. I'm working up new material that's not recorded yet because I'm between labels. I had a great relationship with Epic, 22 years. It was just time for a change. I've been hanging around the last six months waiting to sign a new contract, and I'll get back to work recording this winter."
Asked about the haunting title song, "River of Souls," Fogelberg laughed and said, "That was a strange song to present to a record company. `Here's a new song about death and transmogrification. I don't know about it being a hit.'
There's a river in Colorado called Rio Animas, the River of Lost Souls, and I've always wanted to use that as a song title. The music came first and is actually stronger than the words. The song is about the passage of the soul from the material world to the next.
Sometimes you have the experience writing where you don't know if the words are coming from you or through you and you say to yourself, `Did I write that?' (These lyrics) were the last thing to be done for the album, and I just had to be content with the words and say, `I can live with this - this works with the music.' "
When Fogelberg performed at ParkWest (now Wolf Mountain) in June 1993, it was an acoustic concert that thrilled his fans and disconcerted some critics who wanted a full band, laser lights and fog machines.
"When I perform in a city with two newspapers, I've noticed that one will love the show and the other will say I'm the worst artist they ever heard. I stayed in Boston after a show, and after breakfast the next day, I strolled down to pick up both papers, and that's exactly what they said. Some people prefer rock shows and some want to think a little bit more and feel a little bit more. I'll be bringing a small band (Mark Andes, Joe Vitale and Robert McEntee). I'm playing acoustic but the band still rocks. There's a kind of balance between acoustic and rock."
Fogelberg said the band isn't really big enough for "The Power of Gold" but great for "Magic Every Moment," which will open the show.
"We've been touring this way since last fall and people have really responded. It's more intimate, almost like an unplugged show. When you have a big band it's like putting a veil betweenyourself and the audience," he said.
Does Fogelberg tire of his yearly treks to Utah?
"I love Park City," he said. "I'm a skier so I'm here a lot in the winter. Whenever I can come to the Rocky Mountain states it's like coming home."
And the man who owns homes in the mountains of Colorado and a getaway in Maine - why the solitude? "I've never really been terribly social. Even as a young man, I had a desire to be close to nature. I'm more relaxed and at peace when I can be away from crowds," he said.
What does his future hold?
Classical music and romantic ballads if he gets his way. "You can't do classical music within the confines of a pop recording career. They're really not interested in artistic concerns. Maybe 20 years ago, but now artistic concerns really aren't the prime ones - it's just basically commercial. I'm still enjoying what I do, but I'm not going to do it forever. Later in life when I don't have to earn a living, I'll be doing classical music," Fogelberg said.