DYLANesque - the Bob Dylan Story

Writing songs and singing them in a band is one of my great loves. Seeing an audience singing along to a song they’re hearing for the first time is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life (my daughter’s birth was pretty special too, possibly a close second!!)

Pretty much after every gig someone would come up to me and tell me I sounded a lot like Bob Dylan. Now to begin with, as a trained singer, I didn’t take this too kindly! I mean, Dylan isn’t exactly known for his beautiful voice. And I wouldn’t have called myself a fan of his music at that point either. But it got me thinking…that perhaps I should do something with this ‘gift’!

And so began my research into the idea of writing a Dylan tribute show. At the last count, there are 3,856 Bob Dylan books on the market, and I’m afraid I’ve now read most of them. After wading through them all, what struck me most, was not only that Bob was a reluctant voice of a generation, but he lived in some of the most turbulent times in our recent history. And the deeper I delved into Dylan’s music, the more I felt I was discovering it for the first time and gained an incredible appreciation for his songwriting skills.

I decided to present it as part concert, part theatre, entirely its own thing. I opened with the story of Bob arriving in NYC in 1961, as a sort of Woody Guthrie stylist. It was just me on the stage, with a guitar and harmonica narrating Bob’s story of his journey from Minnesota to the Big Apple, and singing his early classics - Blowin in the Wind, The Times They Are a Changin and Hard Rain.

Then the band kicks in, exploding loud with It’s All Over Now Baby Blue - I could see it all, and when it came to fruition it was one of the most exciting parts of the show. The audience loved it, reeling back in their seats having been lulled by just me and my narration and soft lilting songs til that point.

The show then travelled through his early 60s music, finishing Act I with Subterranean Homesick Blues and yes, I did the cards, just like Bob did in his video (hailed as THE first music video ever made).

Act II opened with a re-enactment of when Bob went electric at Newport Folk Festival in 1965 and again it was a huge moment in the show and I got the audience to boo, just like his fans had at the time. He polarised his followers throughout his career.

We smashed out over 40 of Dylan’s songs in the show, many of which had been hits for other artists. I particularly liked seeing a dad with his two kids beside him in the audience, and when we did Knocking on Heaven’s Door, I could see the kids nudging Dad, saying ‘Hang on, this is a Guns n Roses song!’ Dad just smiled.

I finished the show with his epic song The Hurricane - all 13 verses, and yes, it’s an immense relief to get to the end of that song without losing your way.

I grew my hair, I wore the jacket from the cover of Freewheelin, we utilised rear screen projection, plotted terrific lighting and we littered some props around the stage. And without a doubt, we had an absolute ball. This was pre-COVID, and we toured around Australia filling theatres and delighting Dylan fans as we went.

Writing, producing, performing and touring the Bob Dylan Story will remain one of the highlights of my career. When you create something from the ground up, and you are the creator, you get an unmatchable buzz when it soars. Being on the road with a bunch of musicians who are also your best mates, is hard to beat. Waking each morning, and hitting the road with a new theatre to bump into that night - what’s not to love!