Daniel Lanois, courtesy.

This story originally appeared in the Oakland Tribune.

You may not recognize the name Daniel Lanois, but you have almost certainly listened to his work.

The 59-year-old Canadian multi-Grammy Award recipient has produced albums for a who’s who list of rock icons: U2, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Sinead O’Connor, Willie Nelson and, most recently, Neil Young.

Lanois, also a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, has released a number of solo albums. His newest project is the reggae-tinged soul band Black Dub. The band, which performs Sunday at the Independent, is a new experience for the mixing desk legend. It is the first band he has led since the start of his music career some three decades ago. And Lanois is doing it while recovering from a horrific motorcycle crash that nearly claimed his life last summer.

“I wanted to be in a band with a great singer up front (where) I’m a blazing rock god guitar player one step behind her,” Lanois joked during a telephone interview from his Los Angeles recording studio earlier in January.

Lanois grew up in a small Canadian town halfway between Detroit and Buffalo listening to R&B and soul music that came from Motown. Following that, he got into the psychedelic movement, and Jimi Hendrix became his guitar hero – and still is today.

Early start

He started by playing guitar locally and producing his brother’s records in a studio he built inside their mother’s house. At first he struggled because there were few, if any, ways to advance his career.

“Maybe it was a blessing in disguise; we got to really hone in on our skills,” he said. “Eventually the word got out that I was good. If you do great work that is special and sonically challenging, as I did in my case, then another invitation (from musicians to produce a record) comes, then another invitation, and then it just starts piling up.”

In 1984, producer and former Roxy Music member Brian Eno asked Lanois to co-produce U2’s album “The Unforgettable Fire.” The pair went on to co-produce several of U2’s greatest records including “The Joshua Tree,” which received the 1987 Grammy Award for album of the year; 1991’s “Achtung Baby” and 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.”

“There’s something lovely about having been involved with a classic that is someone else’s record,” he said. “I suppose it would be no different from scoring a great film. It’s not my film, but I would be making a significant contribution.”

Other Grammy Award wins include best contemporary folk album for his work on Emmylou Harris’ 1995 record “Wrecking Ball”; Bob Dylan’s “Time Out of Mind” in 1997 (album of the year); and a producer of the year award in 1992. Neil Young’s latest record, “Le Noise,” has been nominated for three Grammys this year, including for best rock album.

“What I like about the studio is I enjoy helping people,” Lanois said. “If somebody comes to my house, and they want to record, I’ll make sure they come up with something special.”

Getting into dub

Since 1989, he has also found time to record and release a handful of his own records, including his debut, “Acadie,” which was on many Canadian critics’ best-of lists, and 2007’s “Here Is What Is,” the soundtrack to a documentary of the same name that documented the creative process behind Lanois’ approach to music.

Writing his own pieces and producing others’ always has run in tandem for Lanois. When he works with others, his creativity is fed, he said.

Lanois said he prefers songs with moving parts that evolve through a song rather than rotating identical parts. In Black Dub’s debut album, Lanois explores dub music, a Jamaican production technique of separating the various elements of a recording and focusing on or manipulating one or two elements at a time.

“I’m not in the business of making a lovely flower arrangement,” he said. “I’m more in the business of windstorms.”

Black Dub’s album, released in November, is a rich collection of blues, roots rock and gospel.

Eclectic mix

‘The band includes three touring musicians with varying backgrounds. Drummer Brian Blade, 40, from Louisiana, has played with jazz greats Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Joshua Redman. He has backed Norah Jones, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, among others.

Vocalist Trixie Whitley, 23, is the daughter of the late blues singer and guitarist Chris Whitley. Lanois is a friend of the Whitley family. The Black Dub project began to gain momentum when he ran into her after several years apart and heard her sing. Her surprisingly deep gospel voice shines brightest on “Surely,” a soulful waltz of a track on the self-titled album.

Studio bassist Daryl Johnson completes the band, although on the upcoming tour his shoes will be filled by James “Sidepipe” Wilson while Johnson is in jail facing drug charges.

Besides “Surely,” other album highlights include the island-infused “Silverado,” the groovin’ “Nomad,” and a cover of Jamaican reggae artist Tenner Saw’s “Ring the Alarm,” led by Blade’s jazzy drumming before breaking down into a guitar jam at the end.

Just as Black Dub was about to go on tour to promote the upcoming debut album, Lanois was critically injured in a car crash June 5 in north Los Angeles.

“It all seemed to be kind of in slow motion, as if I had control of the situation,” Lanois sighs. “I went up in the air, and when I landed, I smashed my entire right side on the ground, and I blacked out. When I came to, there were lots of people trying to help me. It’s a busy little corner, right in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven.”

Lanois broke 10 bones and damaged his lungs. The band was forced to cancel all touring for months while he recuperated.

“The rib cage is like a spring, so those ribs will never be in the right position again,” he said. “They’ve mended back up, but in kind of the wrong place. It hasn’t affected my playing and my breathing seems to be OK, so I’m lucky to be alive and thankful to get on with what I do best, which is music.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.