Aug 302016
 

A few months back, Nashville’s iconic Ryman Auditorium hosted two star-studded tribute concerts to Bob Dylan to celebrate his 75th birthday. Kesha performing “I Shall Be Released” was the big news-maker as her first high-profile performance during her ongoing legal battle, but many other members of country and Americana royalty also took the stage for an amazing couple nights. The full thing was webcast, but it hasn’t been archived anywhere, so if you missed that you were stuck with grainy YouTube videos – until now. We’ve got every song to stream below (except Kesha, which wasn’t webcast, presumably for legal reasons). For the first time since that night, you can hear pristine recordings of Jason Isbell, Kacey Musgraves, Kurt Vile, Emmylou Harris, Butch Walker, Wynonna Judd, Boz Scaggs, Langhorne Slim, John Paul Williams of the Civil Wars, Ann Wilson of Heart, and more covering their favorite Dylan songs, many for the first time ever.

Highlights abound, starting with the killer Jason Isbell three-pack of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (solo), “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” (with band), and “Hurricane” (with wife Amanda Shires). Kacey Musgraves delivers a beautiful country “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” John Paul White, formerly half of The Civil Wars, starts “Just Like a Woman” as a delicate solo piece before the band swoops in. Moon Taxi earned a standing ovation with their “All Along the Watchtower,” a suite of solos, guitar and piano building to a massive climax.

Also impressive are the many musicians who picked less-often covered tracks. There are three songs from 1997’s Time Out of Mind, all knockouts: Wynonna Judd’s “Million Miles,” Karen Elson’s “Cold Irons Bound,” and Ruby Amanfu’s “Not Dark Yet.” And even the choices from so-called “classic Dylan” can be unusual: one of the two songs from the Times They Are a-Changin’ album is the relatively obscure “North Country Blues,” in a mesmerizing acoustic performance from Kurt Vile.

Hear every song below: the full first night’s show, plus the extra songs that were performed only on night two (which includes Isbell and Musgraves). And while you’re listening, you can read about why each musician picked the song they did at Billy Reid. Best quote is Butch Walker’s: “I needed a song that I could wank on a guitar like a 14 year-old and just scream because that’s all I know how to do.”

Night One Setlist:
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – The Cabin Down Below Band
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat – Shelly Colvin
The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Holly Williams
Maggie’s Farm – Jonathan Tyler
Baby, Let Me Follow You Down – Dhani Harrison
Isis – Brendan Benson
Tangled Up In Blue – Bijou Phillips, Danny Masterson, Eric Pulido of Midlake
To Ramona – Rayland Baxter
I Threw It All Away – Nikki Lane
I Want You – The Whigs
Cold Irons Bound – Karen Elson
All Along The Watchtower – Moon Taxi
Oh, Sister – Cory Chisel & Adriel Denae
Not Dark Yet – Ruby Amanfu
The Man In Me – City & Colour
Wallflower – Langhorne Slim
Million Miles – Wynonna & The Big Noise
Nashville Skyline Rag – Tommy Emmanuel
I Shall Be Released – Kesha [not broadcast]
North Country Blues – Kurt Vile
Just Like A Woman – John Paul White
From A Buick 6 – Butch Walker
Visions Of Johanna – Boz Scaggs
Every Grain Of Sand – Emmylou Harris
Ring Them Bells – Emmylou Harris, Wynonna Judd, Ann Wilson
Like A Rolling Stone – Ann Wilson
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – Everyone

Night Two Setlist:
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream – The Cabin Down Below Band
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat – Shelly Colvin
The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Holly Williams
Baby, Let Me Follow You Down – Dhani Harrison with Joe Brown
Isis – Brendan Benson
Tangled Up In Blue – Bijou Phillips, Danny Masterson, Eric Pulido of Midlake
I Want You – The Whigs
To Ramona – Rayland Baxter
Cold Irons Bound – Karen Elson
All Along The Watchtower – Moon Taxi
Oh, Sister – Cory Chisel & Adriel Denae
The Man In Me – City & Colour
Not Dark Yet – Ruby Amanfu
Wallflower – Langhorne Slim
North Country Blues – Kurt Vile
I Threw It All Away – Nikki Lane
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – Kacey Musgraves & Misa
Million Miles – Wynonna & The Big Noise
Lay Lady Lay – Brothers Osborne
Nashville Skyline Rag – Tommy Emmanuel
I Shall Be Released – Kesha [not broadcast]
From A Buick 6 – Butch Walker
Just Like A Woman – John Paul White
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue – Jason Isbell
Tweeter and the Monkey Man – Jason Isbell
Hurricane – Amanda Shires & Jason Isbell
Visions Of Johanna – Boz Scaggs
Every Grain Of Sand – Emmylou Harris
Ring Them Bells – Emmylou Harris, Wynonna Judd, Ann Wilson
Like A Rolling Stone – Ann Wilson
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – Everyone

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  3 Responses to “Hear New Bob Dylan Covers from Jason Isbell, Kacey Musgraves, Kurt Vile, Emmylou Harris, City & Colour, Boz Scaggs, and Many More”

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  1. Wow, Amanda Shire’s rendition of Hurricane is fantastic! Sticks closely to the original but Amanda’s vocals are frighteningly good and the band rocks hard. Interestingly they did not mention the ‘N’ word, substituting a violin break instead.

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