Dan Fogelberg: The Altogether Artist
Video from Feral Lutheran
Dan Fogelberg: The Altogether Artist
"He was an authentic soul in an often inauthentic industry. In a business that rewarded consistency, formulas and complying with expectations, he was daring, versatile and unpredictable, a musical genius who would not be constrained, or contained.
He was a Renaissance Man in a time that knew neither the meaning of the term, or particularly valued it. He was a deeply perceptive, sensitive and solitary soul whose creativity and sanity thrived in isolation, nature, peace and quiet; he fought to build a wall around himself and his private life, even as the rules of celebrity required access and transparency at all costs.
He was an outdoorsman and sportsman; an equestrian, skier, ice-skater and accomplished sailor, whose life and love of sport often inspired his art.
Where most successful musicians and groups are tied to a specific genre, Dan Fogelberg’s albums ranged from folk, classic, soft and pop rock to jazz and blues, country and bluegrass.
He wrote one of the most beautiful love songs of the era, which was also one of the most popular wedding songs of the 1980’s and ‘90’s.
In a market ruled by three and half minute songs with a catchy refrain he wrote a six minute narrative ballad with no chorus, that remains, after 40 years, a fixture of the Christmas season.
He was, and has been, consistently described by his peers as a musician’s musician, not just a jack of all musical trades, but a master; a composer, singer, lyricist, arranger, technician and engineer.
At the peak of his popularity he was a commercial powerhouse with seemingly no limit to his future and his fame. And then, he quietly went his own way, following his muse, while the music industry went the other.
When he passed early and unexpectedly, he had already been mostly forgotten; his death received minimal and understated media attention, and indeed many people did not know he was gone until, at some distant date, they were moved to wonder, whatever happened to Dan Fogelberg?
But seasons change, and everything old is new again. For a new generation, Dan Fogelberg's music offers them precisely what they are thirsting for in the commercial desert of contemporary music -- beauty; sincerity; meaning, and above all else, to made to feel.
This is the story of Dan Fogelberg, The Altogether Artist." from the video introduction
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