After we had talked and listened to music for a while, Dan asked me if I’d like to see his recording studio. He led us to the basement, where the studio was set up at that time. Dan’s engineer Adam was working on Dan’s latest solo album, and Dan asked him to cue up a track. As the recording played, Dan stood right in front of me and sang to me. His lyrics were scrawled in black marker on a sheet of poster board on the floor, and he picked it up and held it. The track was loud, and Dan was singing right to my face, almost shouting the melody. When the song was finished, he told me what he had written it about. He had no self-consciousness or artifice—just true enthusiasm for his new music. That was a moment ...