New Freedom Mark Knopfler’s Love Of Music Shines Through In His First Solo Album After Dire Straits

“Golden Heart,” Mark Knopfler

Artists can become obsessed by how their discs are doing in the marketplace. Careers can be made or broken by such worries, but Mark Knopfler is one of the lucky ones.

He was successful right from the start with Dire Straits - a favorite arena band of the ‘80s - and that’s given him the freedom to forget about chart positions and fads.

“I’ve never even viewed what I do as a career,” Knopfler said from Nashville. “I just write songs the best way I can.

“I don’t really think about things like singles or release dates or any of that stuff. I never have.

“The way I look at it, there’s music and there’s the music business. They’re two separate things. And what I love is music.”

Knopfler’s passions are evident on his first official, post-Dire Straits solo album, “Golden Heart,” in stores now. It’s a casually brilliant blend of punchy, Straits-like rock, dreamy country ballads, Cajun swamp-funk and traditional Celtic folk music. The sounds range from Knopfler’s gutbucket-blues electric guitar, to bouzouki and National steel guitar.

And the guests - a series of musician’s musicians - include Vince Gill, Sonny Landreth, Jo-el Sonnier, Paul Brady, Barry Beckett, and Derek Bell and Sean Keane of the Chieftains.

Some of the music has a rootsy similarity to what Knopfler has done with his side band, Notting Hillbillies. But there’s definitely more of a Dire Straits feel this time. And it’s all underscored by the gravelly, but somehow always fitting, Dylanesque vocals of Knopfler.

“I don’t sing,” he said with a laugh from his hotel room. “I just grunt and make noise.”

Yes, but it’s a uniquely appealing noise. Also, the new disc is more wide-ranging than the last Straits album in 1992, “On Every Street.” That one leaned toward the country spectrum and starred pedal steel ace Paul Franklin, who also toured with the group.

The new album has Franklin in spots but puts Knopfler’s own slinky guitar grooves out front. He cooks on such tracks as “Imelda” (a satire about Imelda Marcos’ spending habits, though Knopfler calls it “just one of those general, get-a-life tunes”) and the bayou-flavored “Cannibals,” which rocks with the high-stepping beat of the Straits hit, “Walk of Life.”

“I’m just having a ball. I loved making this record so much,” said Knopfler, who recorded the disc in sessions in Ireland, Nashville and Louisiana. It has a hobbyist feel that might not make it a major commercial hit, but true Knopfler fans should eat it up.

As for tour plans, Knopfler said he’ll play Europe this summer, followed by a possible U.S. tour this fall. His new band includes Memphis drummer Chad Cromwell, pianist Jim Cox and guitarist Richard Bennett, who has “put the twang into songs” by everyone from Steve Earle to Neil Diamond, said Knopfler. (The touring band will not include pedal steel.)

As for Dire Straits, Knopfler said he hopes to occasionally reunite the group for charity events.

“Basically, we’ve done that ever since Live Aid and the (Nelson) Mandela concert,” said Knopfler. “But we’ve also done smaller charity events in places like Newcastle. And I hope we can do more.”

For now, however, it’s Knopfler as solo artist. And based on the new “Golden Heart,” he still has a lot to offer.