So much younger now: IMT celebrates Dylan at 65

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo donna maclean photography Billy channels Bob: Billy Coulter is among the local rockers who will gather to celebrate Dylan’s 65th.

‘‘We envisioned it like Bob Dylan’s career,” explains award-winning Rockville roots-rocker Billy Coulter, who will serve as host.

‘‘The first part is a solo acoustic set: Cletus Kennelly, Verlette Simon, Robert Lighthouse. Then there’s a ‘house band,’ Robbie Magruder on drums, Greg Hardin on bass and Tommy Derr on lead guitar.

‘‘We came up with a list, this diverse group of performers who are bringing their own style.”

Coulter is quick to say that while Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople was the major musical influence in his life, ‘‘Bob’s influence was second: He’s sort of been part of my musical lexicon all these years.”

And Coulter ’s not alone. Indeed, each performer has chosen a few Dylan classics to perform, ones that have meaning for them. Takoma Park’s Lisa Moscatiello, he promises, will sing ‘Girl From The North Country.’

‘‘It’ll bring a tear to your eye,” he says. ‘‘Her voice really resonates with that song. Cletus Kennelly has this really crystal clear voice. I’m looking forward to hearing the songs he’s chosen. And Robert Lighthouse channels (Mississippi blues legend) Robert Johnson and the Delta Blues that inspired Dylan.

‘‘It’s kind of nice to complete the circle.”

Blues and boos

Will the circle be unbroken, though? That is the question. For modern singer songwriters like Kennelly, who grew up in Montgomery County after Dylan had electrified folk-rock, finding the essential Dylan may require some soul searching.

‘‘I think I’ve been influenced by people who have been influenced by Bob Dylan,” he says. ‘‘Neil Young, James Taylor. I’ve heard his songs done by the Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, U2, Judy Collins. I think I’m sort of a generation away.”

But Kennelly says he understood the enormity of the singer’s legacy when a musical mentor showed him a book containing nothing but melodies Dylan had composed.

‘‘It was the size of a microbiology textbook,” he laughs. ‘‘I was amazed by the sheer volume of the output. It inspired me to keep writing as much as I can, to just keep working and not be so critical.

Critical? You want critical? The crowds at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965 were critical, according to IMT president David Eisner. He saw Dylan three weeks after that, at the Mosque Hall in Newark, N.J., and the crowds still booed, just as they had in Newport.

‘‘It happened several times,” says Eisner. ‘‘There were people who felt betrayed. You couldn’t plug things in! You couldn’t sully the name of the protest rock singer!”

But Dylan held firm, and revolutionized the industry, and Eisner made a point of seeing Dylan in concert during every decade since the ’60s.

‘‘That to me is the strength of the show,” he explains. ‘‘He has reached across every generation. Most of the time, when you talk to artists doing hyphenated material — singer-singwriters, folk-rockers ... you say, ‘Who was among your influences?’

‘‘‘Bob Dylan!’”

Next generation

It isn’t easy to remember the often-complicated lyrics to a Dylan song, and it’s even harder to nail down the concept of Dylan as an artist.

‘‘There is such an iconic aura about him,” sighs Kennelly. ‘‘People don’t understand half the things about him. He’s so ... kind of evasive. He keeps confusing people.”

In the end, there is the music, and that’s what Monday’s concert is really all about.

Sure, it’s Dylan’s birthday, but it’s a landmark for IMT as well. Monday’s concert marks the close of the venue’s 20th concert season, and for Eisner, it has been a very good year. He’s thrilled with Bruce Springsteen’s release of ‘‘We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions” (‘‘It’s unbelievable — it’s amazing!”), which he sees as a modern validation of the music he has loved for so long.

Kennelly sees it, too.

‘‘I think Dylan’s the bridge between Pete Seeger and The Weavers and the next generation,” he says. ‘‘Jackson Browne, the Southern California sound.

‘‘Acoustic music kind of comes in and out,” he adds. ‘‘There’s been a resurgence, starting with Jon Mayer, right up to James Blunt.”

And that’s how Eisner likes it: fans of the old folk music Dylan mastered, fans of the new genre he launched when he plugged his guitar into an amp.

‘‘We want to do it just like it happened to Bob,” says Eisner. ‘‘We’re expecting a lusty round of boos in the second half.”

But seriously, he adds, ‘‘I hope when we look at the demographics of the audience, we see kids with pink hair and nose rings and people with white hair. We want them all!”

IMT presents a tribute to Bob Dylan at 7:30 p.m. Monday in St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Road, Rockville. Tickets are $20, $15 in advance. Call 301-754-3611 or visit www.imtfolk.org.