Precious Memories of Duluth, MN - May 2014
As we look forward to producing a CD/DVD package of the historic night of May 17th, 2014. I would like to share my thoughts of what went down. First of all, If you are a fan of Bob Dylan and you have never been to a Duluth Dylan Festival, do yourself a favor and make a trip out there one of these years. It is all put together with a labor of love and respect for the man and his music and you will have a great time! Mark my words!
I would like to thank NELSON T. FRENCH along with THE ARMORY ARTS & MUSIC CENTER for bringing A SALUTE TO THE MUSIC OF BOB DYLAN all back home to Duluth and the fantastic presentation that they did all the way around! I really hope that one day soon it will be up and rockin' again the way it deserves to be! From the VIP Vintage Italian Pizza party on Friday the 16th with Cowboy Angel Blue headlining, to Amazing Grace Bakery and Cafe for breakfast then onto Sacred Heart Music Center on Saturday the 17th for the concert. From the art at Red Mug Coffeehouse and Bake Shop, to Goin' Postal Superior and wrapping it all up outside The Historic Duluth Armory (with the Bob Dylan silhouette above us) on Sunday the 18th. I had a blast! Thank you, Nelson for also convincing me to do some magic and teaming up with me to co-produce this show! You are the definition of a stand up guy! I hope we can work together again soon! As Geno said to me "if you want someone to get the job done and right, then Nelson is your man!"
Thank you to BILLY HALLQUIST for getting us all on the road to Duluth and producing such an outstanding cast of world class musicians to perform the songs of Bob Dylan the way that they did! Billy, I will never forget how you sang that last verse of Forever Young! I got chills! You were definitely living inside of the song at that moment! It was priceless! Thank you for all your months of planning, organizing and hard work to keep this all together. It did pay off that night and I never take it for granted!
Thank you to SCARLET RIVERA, GENE LAFOND and PAUL METSA. We go back the furthest together. I met Scarlet in 1977 on her first solo tour to the Twin Cities shortly after her Rolling Thunder Revue tour of 1975-76 and our lives keep intersecting through the years most always at the crossroads of Bob! Whenever you hear her play, you know that no one else could ever sound like that or play that well! It is definitely from another world! If I listened to her play for a thousand lifetimes it would never be enough! I met Gene LaFond with LARRY KEGAN somewhere back in 1982 or so. Gene has said we are all like family and I do agree with him! Keep on singing your song, Geno! Looking forward to a new album from you soon! I met Paul Metsa in 1984. He handed me his first vinyl record titled Paper Tigers while inside Oar Folkjokeopus. If you don't know what that is? Google it, or better yet, pick up his Blue Guitar Highway book: http://www.blueguitarhighway.com/ or have a listen to his new Wall of Power Radio Hour: http://www.wallofpowerradio.com/ They are both great! Thank you, Paul for all your support over the years with the Salute concerts and your friendship. Keep on keepin' on!
Thank you BILL PAGEL, GLEN and MADGE DUNDAS for being our videographers for the evening and doing such a wonderful job! Bob is lucky to have such historians like yourselves documenting his work over all these years just as I am lucky to have you as long time old friends! Thank you, Bill for driving me all around that weekend and the tour of Bob's birthplace house. May Bob continue to tour the world every year and you continue delivering those set lists! http://www.boblinks.com/ I look forward to them! I hope to have the priviledge one day to see both of your full collections and visit your archives!
Thank you to JOHN BUSHEY for being so bold and daring on his Highway 61 Revisited radio show and having me on it. John, sorry about the 17 song playlist. I got carried away. Then you got carried away and played them all too! Your support for the concert was dedicated and sincere from the get-go till the end! Thank you for the awesome magic that you did as well! On my next trip out, I am going to lock myself away in your Houdini vaults if you will allow me! Thanks once again for your kindness throughout the event!
Thank you to our Master of Words ED NEWMAN. If we would have had a hundred people in this show, Ed would have interviewed them all! Ed, the show would have never been the success it was without you involved! I will make it a point to read your new posts in the morning and start my day that way! Ennyman's Territory ARTS, CULTURE AND OTHER LIFE OBSERVATIONS: http://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/ I will take it any day over the morning news! You are an artist's artist and the real deal! All the best to you!
Thank you to all the artists and musicians who played and donated their time and energy to our cause! It wouldn't be fair to pick favorites and I just want to say that each and every one of you brings forth your own musical styles and claims each song you chose as your own and does them justice! That is not an easy task to do with these great Bob Dylan songs but you all managed to do it! I salute and pay homage to each and everyone of you as you continue on with your musical journeys!
RALPH DACUT
MATT FINK
ARNE FOGEL
BARRY THOMAS GOLDBERG
STEVE GROSSMAN
JIM HALL
STAN KIPPER
LONNIE KNIGHT
KENNY KRONA
JAMES LONEY & THE GHOSTETTES - EDIE BAUMGART & COLLEEN MARTIN OAKE
GARY LOPAC
BARBARA MEYER
JAMIE NESS (I never got to thank you for The Freewheelers CD you gave me. So thank you, Jamie! I also have never heard a version of Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie like yours before! I haven't stopped listening to it!) http://thefreewheelers.bandcamp.com/
CHICO PEREZ
COURTNEY YASMINEH
Thank you to our Masters of Sound
PATRICK MCCARTHY
ERIC SWANSON and SACRED HEART MUSIC CENTER
Thank you to our ace photographers
DAN SWANSON
Special thanks to ZANE BAIL and DON DASS.
Keep up the great work that you do for Duluth Dylan Festival! I left with one of the official Bob Dylan Way street signs! You can't ask for anything more. Thank you for that! You were also both great assistants during the show and wonderful people!
Last but not least a big thank you to all of our sponsors (you know who you are!) and to The Armory Annex for hosting the after party! I hope to see you all again further down the road!
Marc Percansky
June 27th, 2014