Dire Straits was without a doubt the biggest British rock and blues band of the eighties, but their leader / singer / guitar hero Mark Knopfler has proven since their demise that de could do perfectly well as a solo artist. With nine albums as well as many soundtracks, he developed his craft for acoustic textures and interwoven fingerpicked parts. Like fine wine, his voice has also gone better with age, taking a deeper and more solemn tone.