You’ve got to be semi-obsessed’: Mark Knopfler is still as dedicated as ever

For Mark Knopfler, music has been a lifelong passion, and it’s been a well-rewarded one. The numerous accolades he’s received would take us too long to list, but among them are several Grammy Awards, a handful of honorary doctorate degrees, and a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his band Dire Straits.

But, as you’ll hear in today’s session, you may get the sense that he’d be just as happy making music forever even without all that recognition. Knopfler simply loves doing it. He needs to. His latest album is his tenth solo outing, titled One Deep River. We’ll talk about the album, the way Knopfler works in his studio, and the drive it takes to make it as a musician.

He also looks back on Dire Straits, time spent in the Nashville in the 80s, and remembers what it was like when he first worked with Bob Dylan.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. The web story was created by Miguel Perez. Our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.