Who says there nothing to do in a small town?

So we're picking up my oldest from school on Friday and one of the teachers (Noah) who's doing his therapy says that there's a concert Saturday night at the Pal. A night of Bob Dylan songs covered by local talent. Noah also mentioned that he himself would be doing a set of three songs.

It turned out to be a great date night for my beloved and me. Actually, I suspect she went more because of me, since I'm the one around here who digs nasally singers (high lonesome bluegrass, alt country, and yes, even folk). The show started promptly at eight and ended when they got through singing, sometime after ten.

The musicians were (and I'm taking this from an email about the event, so forgive me if I left anyone out): Erin Williams, Brian Hamilton, The Late JB Hawkins, Noah Bullard, David Sandridge, Eric Phillips, Weston Robinson, Stephen Williams, Eric S. Love, Teri Williams, JC Williams, Scott Beverly, Chase Tipps, Nic Ogle, and Micah Williams. And you got to see it all for the low, low price of $5.

Which, I gotta say was an incredible deal for me.

And let me tell you, they covered the gamut. From the folksy, to the electric, the ones that have been covered ad infinitum, and the obscure. It was awesome.

Here are some of the songs I remember hearing:

Mr. Tamborine Man, The Times They are a Changin', It's All Over Now Baby Blue, A Hard Rains a Gonna Fall, Blind Willie McTell, It Aint Me Babe, One more cup of coffee, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Not Dark Yet, Ballad of a thin man, Sylvio, Moonshiner, Like a Rolling Stone, When He Returns, I Believe in You, I Shall be Released, Masters of War, and All Along the Watchtower.

I'm sure I left some out, but it was over two hours of the kind of music I like. There were bare-boned acoustic sets followed by your standard dual electric guitars, bass, and drum, then back to acoustic again. The musicians played or sang in each other's sets, swapping instruments, and engaging in just enough stage banter to make it interesting.

But the highlight for me was seeing Noah in his element. He showed up in a tux, having just arrived from some prior event, and quipped, "I feel a little under-dressed." Then he proceeded to tune a guitar, gave up when its sound kept cutting out, and then took up another one. (The thing I dig about Noah is he doesn't seem to be in a hurry. World needs more people like that, if you ask me.) Anyway, I'm still not sure what 'Ballad of a Thin Man' is about, but it rocked. Likewise his renditions of 'Not Dark Yet, and 'Sylvio' were incredible. I heard someone in the audience exclaim, "Who's gonna follow that?" Then a well-timed pause and, "Well, how can you?"

Indeed.

My wife learned that she did, in fact, know some Dylan tunes. While I realized that the Gov't Mule song that I dug so much back in college (I Shall Be Released) was actually one of Bob's. The last few numbers had all the musicians on stage, and they ended the night with the song I doubted I'd hear, since the definitive version is Jimi's.

All in all, an immensely cool evening. A big "Thank You" to all the artists and to the Pal. Well done.

****

A somewhat humorous aside: during Noah's set my wife leaned over and whispered, "His singing kind of reminds me of Tom Petty."

Seriously dude, you do a mean Bob Dylan.