I unexpectedly attended Bob Dylan’s performance at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena in my hometown of Asheville, NC last night. I am fortunate to be covering the 2024 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN this coming weekend (watch this space for my day-after reviews), so did not think that I would have the opportunity to take inContinue reading “Bob Dylan in Asheville, NC – March 21, 2024”
Tag Archives: Bob Dylan
Interview with Elizabeth Nelson of The Paranoid Style
Elizabeth Nelson is the lead singer and songwriter of The Paranoid Style. In addition to serving her duties as a bandleader, she writes about music for publications such as The Ringer, Oxford American, Lawyers Guns & Money, and Pitchfork (including a recent piece on Dylan’s Desire) as well as operating an iconic Twitter account madeContinue reading “Interview with Elizabeth Nelson of The Paranoid Style”
Dylan’s 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” Performance: Two Interpretations by Cat Power and Robyn Hitchcock
Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concertwas recently released, documenting Cat Power’s take on the now infamous recording of Bob Dylan’s performance at the Manchester Free Trade Hall on May 17, 1966, which was mistakenly attributed to his performance at the Royal Albert Hall nine days later. As all Dylan obsessives know,Continue reading “Dylan’s 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” Performance: Two Interpretations by Cat Power and Robyn Hitchcock”
Interview with Anne Margaret Daniel on Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine
Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine is a new book by Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel, which marks the first official publication by the Bob Dylan Center. Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Center serves as the public face for the Bob Dylan Archive, which houses a lifetime’s worth of Dylan’s lyric drafts, notebooks, photographs, videos,Continue reading “Interview with Anne Margaret Daniel on Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine”
“Born in the U.S.A.”: Suicide in Paris, January 20, 1987
On January 20, 1987, the band Suicide played a concert at La Locomotive in Paris, France. With the concert well under way, lead singer Alan Vega announces to the French audience: “This is a little song for Bruce Springsteen.” The crowd jeers in response with a few boos and claps mixed in as well. VegaContinue reading ““Born in the U.S.A.”: Suicide in Paris, January 20, 1987″
747
At the age of 33, Bill Callahan — still releasing music under the name Smog — recorded “Permanent Smile” as the last song on the 2000 album Dongs of Sevotion: It’s a gorgeous song, propelled by loud, intermittent drums and a tinkling piano that is reminiscent of the irregular Philip Glass-y piano on “All MyContinue reading “747”
Son of the Sea
After 2013’s Dream River, Bill Callahan did not release an album of new original compositions for six years until Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest came out in 2019. During that time, Callahan and his wife had their first child, and it impacted Callahan’s mindset in many ways as he told The Creative Independent in 2019:Continue reading “Son of the Sea”
One Fine Morning
In a 2019 entry of Nick Cave’s indelible Red Hand Series in which he responds to questions from fans, Cave was asked about his favorite songs. He instead shared a list of what he called “hiding songs,” those songs that he felt were written exclusively for him. Cave further defined hiding songs by saying thatContinue reading “One Fine Morning”
Drover
In 2011, Bill Callahan released his most critically-acclaimed album, Apocalypse. Recorded in the border town of Tornillo, Texas, the tone of the album is informed by Callahan’s relocation to Texas a few years before as he recalled in a 2022 interview with Uproxx: “When I first moved to Texas, I always felt like I wasContinue reading “Drover”
Feather by Feather
From the beginning of Bill Callahan’s career when he recorded under the name Smog until the present releasing music with his given name, Callahan has been signed to the record label Drag City. In the early 2000s, while still using the Smog moniker, Callahan was one of three white male recording artists signed to DragContinue reading “Feather by Feather”
Recliner Notes 