By Kyra Gillespie
It is a known tradition among Bob Dylan fans to get together at concerts and gatherings to celebrate the great musician’s birthday.
From Moscow to India, Norway to Spain, they come together as one, and in his home town of Duluth Minnesota they hold a Duluth Dylan Fest without fail every 24 May.
Local Dylan lovers – commonly known as Bobcats – are in for a treat with Jeff Jenkins adding Bunjil Place to the list with his show Dylanesque – the Bob Dylan Story.
Taking place on Dylan’s 77th birthday, fans new and old can get together to celebrate the legacy that is Bob Dylan.
Jenkins’ semblance to the American singer-songwriter, poet and painter is uncanny; he not only sounds like Dylan, but he understands him, even inhabits him.
The narrated concert leads audiences through the unforgettable songs and milestone events that shaped Bob Dylan, who is undoubtedly one of the world’s most influential artists.
Hailing from the Yarra Valley, Jenkins said the idea for the show came about after he was constantly told he sounded like Dylan when playing his own gigs.
Since then he did his own rigorous research into Dylan’s music – and the rest is history.
“I read everything I could get my hands on about Dylan and he is just out of this world,” Jenkins said.
“We all know his songs, but when I did my reading on him I realised there are 650 of them.
“We only get to play 45 in the show, so there were a few fights among the band about which to keep and which to cull,” he added with a laugh.
In Jenkins’ opinion, Dylan’s music is seconded only by the Beatles.
The show, written, produced and performed by Jenkins, and his electrifying four-piece band, charts the humble beginnings of Dylan’s career, his pivotal relationships and break-ups, the multitude of musical influences – folk, blues, country, rock ‘n’ roll – and his profound impact on popular music and culture.
Dylan’s music is renowned for changing throughout the eras – there are his trailblazing songs of the ‘60s, dive into country music in the ’70s, and contemporary gospel tracks later down the track.
Jenkins said ‘Electric Dylan’ would have to be his favourite Dylan era, referring to pivotal moment Dylan took to the stage at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 with a fully amplified band in the place of his usual acoustic guitar and harmonica.
“It’s the performance that split the sixties,” he said.
“It’s said he electrified one half of his audience, and electrocuted the other.
“But that’s just Bob – he writes the songs that he wants to write.
“Even now his records aren’t selling like they used to, but he is marching to the beat of his own drum. Always has.”
Jenkins said he wanted the show to be a true depiction of Dylan’s performing life – so much so that he even gets the audience to ‘boo’ when he plays that infamous Newport set.
He opens the show with a tale from 1961, when an intrepid teenager hitchhiked his way from Duluth Minnesota to New York City with only a guitar and $10 in his pocket.
This same young man would go on to become one of the most successful and revered songwriters of all time.
“We try to recreate these pivotal moments in the show.
“It’s a show for everybody – we play the really well known ones and also sneak a few of the lesser known ones in for the real Bobcats.
“Audiences revere his early stuff the most because at the time his songs were like fresh apples of a tree. His evocative poetry added with the social unrest of the sixties made him stand out from the rest.
“Dylan is an intriguing subject because of his constant evolution as an artist, immense catalogue of work and his personality.”
Dylanesque – the Bob Dylan Story will be held on Thursday 24 May at Bunjil Place Studio starting at 7:30pm.
For more information visit dylanesque.com.au.
