THE SOLO LIFE

He's been on the national music scene for roughly 20 years, but only recently did Dan Wilson release his first solo album.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Wilson was a member of the band Trip Shakespeare. After that, he was the leader of Semisonic, best known for the 1998 hit "Closing Time."

In recent years, he's been writing songs with the likes Jewel, Mike Doughty and the Dixie Chicks. "Not Ready to Make Nice," one of six tunes he co-wrote for the Chicks' Taking the Long Way, won him a Grammy Award in the Song of the Year category.

Free Life (American Recordings), Wilson's solo debut, was released last month. The album, executive produced by Rick Rubin, is cut from the same pop-rock cloth as his previous efforts and features its share of guest artists, among them Sheryl Crow, Gary Louris and Benmont Tench.

Wilson has gigs tonight (Nov. 26) at the Music Hall of Willamsburg in Brooklyn, Tuesday (Nov. 27) at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan, Wednesday (Nov. 28) at World Café Live in Philadelphia and Thursday (Nov. 29) at Maxwell's in Hoboken.

Wilson's official site is www.danwilsonmusic.com.

SOUNDING OFF ON NEW APP SITE

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 27), the Asbury Park Press will unveil its new Web site.

Sounding Off will rock on, but not at this link. So in the future, please visit www.app.com, click on Entertainment and then scroll down until you see Blogs.

Another way would be to visit www.app.com, then put your cursor on Your Voices. Click on Blogs, then scroll down to the Entertainment/Living category, located on the left side of the screen.