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Soul Asylum singer warms to Rock Hall
By John Benson
To this day, Dave Pirner admits he has no idea how he ended up being a rock star. It was roughly 20 years ago when the Soul Asylum singer-guitarist found himself at the intersection of commercial success and celebrity fame.
In addition to releasing 1992 platinum album “Grave Dancers Union,” which included hits “Runaway Train” and “Black Gold,” he dated actress Winona Ryder and made the rounds as a disheveled Gen-X singer.
Surprising the Minnesota native was his credibility in rock circles, which included appearing at not only the 1994 ground-breaking ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but also a year later at the legendary 1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert that took place at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
“It’s just weird to think about — I’m so [expletive] old I remember that opening show where I played with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed,” said Pirner, calling from his New Orleans home. “I’ve done enough things through the Hall of Fame that they made it impossible for me to feel sort of welcomed. They acknowledged me, and they hooked me up with all of these great people.”
Pirner admits early on he was a naysayer when it came to the Rock Hall. Perhaps it was his punk background, but he didn’t buy into the concept that rock ’n’ roll belonged in a museum. Apparently, that changed when the corporate Rock Hall kept inviting him to visit.
“I’ve done so many cool things with the Rock Hall, I’m now sold on it,” Pirner said. “They’re really nice to me and they take me down to the vaults and showed me Elvis’ gun. But it’s mostly crossing paths with other musicians that I admire, that’s been the gift the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gave to me.”
Though Pirner said taking part in last fall’s American Master Series tribute show to the Rolling Stones was fun, it doesn’t compare to sitting between Lou Reed and Iggy Pop at the aforementioned 1995 concert. Specifically, he overheard the two legends discuss how Pop wrote “I Wanna Be Your Dog.”
Another experience from that day involves the mercurial Reed, who asked Pirner to join him for a performance of his classic “Sweet Jane.”
“I missed a chord, and he gave me a look,” Pirner said. “It was the, ‘Oh, wow, I just got that ‘you missed that chord’ look from Lou Reed.’ I got to experience that, which was kind of funny. I remember exactly what it looked like, and it wasn’t that serious. I’ve seen a lot more evil ‘you missed a chord’ looks from people. You just don’t expect to find yourself in those situations. It was all pretty magical for me.”
Something else magical — and completely unexpected — was Soul Asylum’s recent South American hit “Let’s All Kill Each Other,” which Pirner had leaked before the release of 2012 CD “Delayed Reaction.” He said these days he’s of the opinion to put things out and see which way the wind is blowing.