Mark Knopfler- Kill to Get Crimson

“If you’re touring in an airplane, then you miss things on the ground.” Mark Knopfler doesn’t miss much. His keen eye for observation and literary ability to turn a memorable phrase have informed his songs ever since “Sultans of Swing” introduced us to his talent with Dire Straits way back in 1978. Knopfler’s fifth solo album, Kill to Get Crimson, released in September 2007, has a distinctive late Fifties post-war perspective,”…but it’s not nostalgia. It’s something else,” Mark insists.”The teenager didn’t exist until this time. They had their own money. They had their own music. There was a sexual revolution going on. The teenagers had all of the dangerous things.” Speaking of dangerous things, Knopfler had recuperated from a motorbike accident prior to recording Kill to Get Crimson, then collaborated successfully with Emmylou Harris on the project  All the Roadrunning. So when Kill to Get Crimson finally came out in September 2007, fans were eager and responded with the album debuting first week at #26 on Billboard  magazine’s Top Albums Sales chart, and eventually top ten in the UK. Mark Knopfler then showed some star power (not to mention stamina) by performing ninety-four concerts in eighty-eight cities, including an impressive six night run at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall. Knopfler is my guest here In the Studio for this revealing classic rock interview to discuss his creative approach to such songs as “Punish the Monkey”,”The Scaffolder’s Wife”,”The Fizzy and the Still”,”We Can Get Wild”, and “Let It All Go” on Kill to Get Crimson. –Redbeard