2023 Duluth Dylan Fest: May 20-28 Advance Schedule

After months of meetings and planning, the schedule for Duluth Dylan Fest 2023 is fairly solidified. DDF kicks off on Saturday, May 20th and runs through Sunday, May 28th. 

The 2023 line up, though still potentially in flux, will be pretty much as follows:

SATURDAY, MAY 20 

*Forging Community Dylangate Event & Historic Armory/Bob Dylan Duluth Tour 

Armory Arts & Music Center Annex Armory Tours at 10 am and 10:45 am 9:30-11:30 AM | Free 

Highway 61 Revisited Radio Show 

The North 103.3 FM 

5:00-6:00 PM | Free 

Duluth Dylan Fest Kick Off Party 

with music by Hard Rain- All Things Dylan with special guest opener tba Earth Rider Festival Grounds 6:00-10:00 PM | Tickets $5 to $40 Eventbrite 

SUNDAY, MAY 21 

*Robert Zimmerman Hibbing Day 

Lunch at Sammy’s Pizza with stories by 

Joe & Mary Keyes - 11:30 AM 

Meet at Dylan Monument at Hibbing High School for Tour - 1:00 PM 

Front Yard music at childhood home by 

Gene La Fond & Amy Grillo - 2:30 PM 

11:30AM-4:00 PM | Free RSVP Eventbrite 

*John Bushey Memorial Lecture with 

 Seth Rogovoy, Author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet 

Livestream on Zoom 

6:30-7:45 PM | Free 

MONDAY, MAY 22 

*Acoustic Dylan Jam 

Bring your instruments, music stand and/or voice - lyric & chord book provided 

Carmody Irish Pub 5:30-7:30 PM | Free 

*Basement Tapes Band 

Bent Paddle 

7:30-9:30 PM | Free 

TUESDAY, MAY 23 

*Dogs Do Dylan--New Salty Dogs & Friends
Wussow’s Concert Cafe 7:00-9:00 PM | $5 

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24 

Birthday Cake 2022

*Bob Dylan Front Porch Birthday Party with live music by Greg Tiburzi 

Dylan childhood home 519 N. 3rd Ave. East 12:00-1:30 PM | Free 

Bob Dylan Birthday Bash 

Cowboy Angel Blue 

Gartman Plays Dead: The Club Front Rehearsals 

Earth Rider Festival Grounds 5:00-9:30 PM | Tickets $5 to $40 Eventbrite 

THURSDAY, MAY 25 

*Evening with Jeff Slate with Paul Metsa & Sonny Earl Opening Sacred Heart Music Center 7:00-9:00 PM | $10 Advance Eventbrite 

FRIDAY, MAY 26 

*Dylan Fest Singer-Songwriter Contest
Sacred Heart Music Center 7:00-10:00 PM | Free RSVP Eventbrite 

SATURDAY, MAY 27 

*John Bushey Memorial Lecture with Matt Steichen,Bobcats podcast host. Bob Dylan and his Fans: Searching for Love and Inspiration Wussow’s Concert Cafe 

1:30-3:00 PM | Free 

Highway 61 Revisited Radio Show 

The North 103.3 FM 

5:00-6:00 PM | Free 

*Music of Bob Dylan Infidels with Dan Israel, Terry Walsh & More
Sacred Heart Music Center 7:00-10:00 PM | $10 Advance Eventbrite 

 SUNDAY, MAY 28 

*Farewell Brunch with Misisipi Mike Wolf & Friends
Wussow’s Concert Cafe 11:00 AM-1:00 PM | Free 

If travelling from afar, Duluth has an airport (DLH) where you can fly in and fly out with ease. Some people choose to fly in to Minneapolis-St.Paul Airport and rent a car to visit a few Dylan sites in the Twin Cities, such as the largest Dylan mural in the world. 

For the most up-to-date information on events, please visit: www.duluthdylanfest.com or www.facebook.com/duluthdylanfest/ 

*Funding support from the Minnesota Arts Board 

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Our Local Forging Community

When I say FORGING, I mean people who make or shape metal objects by heating in a fire or furnace and beating or hammering it. Think blacksmith. Except these folk make all kinds of things from gates and grills to cooking utensils and weapons. Here are some photos a recent visit to our local forging community which currently meets in the Armory Annex.

Related Link: Bob Dylan and Gates.

Was Subterranean Homesick Blues Written in a Laundromat?

Photo: Gary Firstenberg.
Taken at the Bob Dylan Center.

Last night I was siting in my easy chair in the living room working on a writing project. The laundry room in our house is directly below and the washing machine was going through its rinse cycle. The rhythm identically matched the rhythmic staccato of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues," so much so that I began singing it. 

Johnny’s in the basement Mixing up the medicine I’m on the pavement Thinking about the government The man in the trench coat Badge out, laid off Says he’s got a bad cough Wants to get it paid off Look out kid It’s somethin’ you did God knows when But you’re doin’ it again You better duck down the alley way Lookin’ for a new friend The man in the coon-skin cap By the big pen Wants eleven dollar bills You only got ten

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Duluth Dylan Fest is comin' on fast. Here is a link to their website so you can stay abreast of what's happening. https://duluthdylanfest.com/

Some of the Northlanders who were in Tulsa last week.

There will be lots of music, naturally, and plenty of other things throughout the week. The May 24 birthday celebration at Bob's first home is always special. This year it's at noon, not mid-afternoon. Just letting you know. The Monday night Trivia Contest will be at Earth Rider in Superior this year. I had the opportunity to create the 40 questions and I tried very hard to not have them be too hard. Come over and play. There will likely be some lovely parting gifts for a few folk.

There will be two John Bushey Memorial Lectures this year. Peter McKenzie will be sharing stories from his book Bob Dylan: On a Couch and Fifty Cents a Day on May 25. Peter's event will be via Zoom, so anyone in the world can tune in. Please pre-register HERE. Paul Metsa will be presenting from 3-4:30 on Saturday afternoon at Wussow's Concert Cafe. That would be Saturday the 28th.

Duluth Dylan Fest opens next Saturday, the 21st with a new event. In the past we've had numerous art shows. This year, there will be a sculpture event. As many of you know, Bob Dylan has been getting into welding iron gates. This year the Duluth Forging Community is planning to create an iron gate throughout the week, beginning Saturday morning from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They are asking the public to bring interesting pieces of iron to incorporate into this community project. 

The rest of the week's schedule can be found on the Duluth Dylan Fest link above.

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As for whether "Subterranean Homesick Blues" was written in a laundromat or not, it's not out of the question. The author has a famously restless mind. It's doubtful that at time in his life Dylan's mind was ever idle. Mine never was, and it seldom is to this day. Some of us are just wired that way I suspect. 

So, when the time comes, if I ever get a chance to ask, I'll share his answer here. 

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Get into it.

Local Art Scene: Armory Annex Artisans Actively Apply Themselves to Their Crafts

Paul Webster shows a visitor how to forge iron.

The growth of the "maker scene" has been quite explosive in recent years, perhaps in part as a countertrend to the tech wave that has swept the globe. Hands-on interactions with raw materials, building connections with the real -- not digital -- world.

For those unaware, a number of makers have taken up active residence in the Armory Annex, a former Perkins Restaurant adjacent to the Historic Armory. The Annex was open during Saturday's Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop, but you're actually welcome to visit most any time I believe. This is a quick snapshot. There is are glassblowers, artisans, a piano technician and a forging community here. Check it out. It's a beehive of activity.

The forgers are present every Saturday. 

A few tools of the trade.

Paul Piszczek is the piano man here. These are the innards for
Esther P's Zentangled piano. 

One of the glassblowers at work. Between Duluth and Oulu we have 
a talented and active network of glassblower artisans.

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