Mpls songwriter Dan Wilson discusses his Grammy, Adele & partying

Star Tribune photo by Tom Wallace

He used to be Mr. Semisonic. Now he's Mr. Grammy Songwriter. Dan Wilson, who won his second Grammy on Sunday, checked in — via e-mail — from a Grammys after-party.

Q How did it feel to win a Grammy tonight? (As a co-producer on Adele's "21" album)

A It felt great! I'm really proud of the songs I wrote with Adele and everyone did such great work, I'm just pleased to be associated with the album.

Q How did it compare to winning the last time with Dixie Chicks? (He cowrote "Not Ready to Make Nice," which won song of the year in 2007)

A With the Chicks, none of us really thought we were going to win. You can tell — I watched the footage later, when we won Song of the Year, they were stunned and couldn't think of anything to say. I was pretty shocked but the Chicks were even more surprised.

But this year there was this widely held belief that Adele would win everything. So it wasn't as shocking, but it was still thrilling.

A That felt great. For some reason, I hadn't known in advance that the song was nominated in that category. So it was a treat for her to mention me so early in the show. I liked what she said, that "Someone Like You" changed her life, and she knew it had, even before she played it for anyone.

Q How did you think she sounded singing 'Rolling in the Deep"?

A Great. What a relief. She didn't pull out all the stops, but after all it was her first gig since the [vocal cord] surgery.

Q Who hit you up during Grammys festivities about collaborating with them on songs?