Dan Wilson, the former lead singer of Semisonic, played an early set to an appreciative crowd at the Hotel Cafe on Thursday night. The multi-hyphenate singer-songwriter-musician-producer took to the stage with a small band for a mostly acoustic hour-long set. LAist was pleasantly surprised by Wilson’s lively take on the songs from his first solo CD Free Life. While the CD is a mellow collection, driven by mid-to-slow tempo melodies, Thursday’s arrangements with acoustic......

Singer-songwriter Dan Wilson is best known as part of the Minnesota power-pop movement of the late '80s and early '90s. He was a member of Trip Shakespeare and lead singer of Semisonic. Late last year after producing and collaborating with artists like Jason Mraz, Rachael Yamagata, the Dixie Chicks and Mike Doughty, he finally released his own solo album, Free Life. It's a quiet, slow burn of a record, much different from the pop-rock of......