What if Bob was one of us? Dylan Fest features music, culture and Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne will perform Dylan songs at Duluth’s 2019 Dylan Fest.

What if Bob was one of us? Just a slob like one of us?

Well, he pretty much is.

Duluth’s Dylan Fest will hold its annual celebration of its native son Bob Dylan May 18-26, 2019. Meanwhile Dylan’s Iron Range hometown of Hibbing continues efforts to commemorate its complex influence on one of the world’s greatest songwriters.

Dylan Fest features events every day of the week to commemorate the wayward troubadour of Northern Minnesota.

One highlight includes a special concert featuring versatile recording artist Joan Osborne, the darling of the 1995 pop charts with the song “One of Us.” She recently recorded an album of re-imagined Bob Dylan songs and will perform several of them at the Sacred Heart Music Center on Thursday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.

The Bob Dylan Revue Reunion Concert will be held at the Sacred Heart Music Center at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 26. This group of musicians last played an acclaimed All Dylan Show in Duluth 17 years ago. The show will include eight original members of the group that performed during the 1990s. Tickets are $10.

Duluth Dylan Fest will host a one-of-kind exhibit of Bob Dylan memorabilia at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum from the archives of William Pagel. They also announce that David Gaines, author of In Dylan Town, will deliver the John Bushey Memorial Lecture.

Other highlights include:

• Cowboy Angel Blue performing the complete Blood on the Tracks album at the Cedar Lounge
• North Country Inspirations Art Show
• Visiting Bob: Poems of the Life and Work of Bob Dylan with Alan Davis & Thom Tammaro, anthology editors and some Minnesota poets who contributed poems
• Open Mic with the Armory Arts and Music Center Music Resource Center Youth
• The Singer-Songwriter Contest featuring a performance by Gene LaFond and Amy Grillo
• Dylan Fest Acoustic Jam hosted by Leslie Black
• The Basement Tapes Band
• Rich Mattson and the North Stars
• Greg Tiburzi
• Duluth Dylan Tour
• Bob Dylan Front Porch Birthday Party
• Jim Hall

These events are free and open to the public. Find out more at Duluth Dylan Fest.

Meantime in Hibbing, the Hibbing Dylan Project continues its work toward creating a permanent creative space on the Hibbing High School campus dedicated to Dylan. They haven’t announced any plans for the Dylan week, but continue work on what will be a remarkable project.