Tangled up in News @ DylanRadio.com

Back from the dead

Pete — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:38:19 +0000

Okay, I’m back!! I want to thank all of you who sent kind notes, including a beautiful hand-made card from our beloved Dylan’s Harmonica. I’m sure many of you are curious as to what happened, and I wish I’d been able to communicate more during my absence. Suffice to say, it was health-related, but I’m okay. Not dying… at least, not any more than the rest of you not being born I’m a pretty private person, so I hope the hyper-curious will be content with that.

I asked someone else to take care of the site during my absence, but – through no fault of their own – they really weren’t able to do much beyond turning things off and on, so I apologize for any downtime or dead air. Looking at the servers today, it seems that things are running relatively smoothly. I’ve got a tonne of email to sift through, and there is clearly some problems with some of the pages, so I’ll be busy with all that over the next few days.

Of course, there’s also the Battle. It will move ahead – I’m entirely committed to that, and I hope that all the competitors will see this extended delay as a blessing in some sense, since it meant extended front page time on the site for your band/song. More to come…

Tournament Round 1!

Pete — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:52:36 +0000

The first tournament round begins today! Match-ups are randomly chosen, and you can vote for your favourites by visiting the forum posts listed below. You must be a registered user to vote, and though the winners will be determined by our panel of judges, they may be influenced by your popular votes! So share your entry on facebook or elsewhere, and get your friends to make their picks!

Here are your round 1 match-ups:

PS: Please note that, with US Thanksgiving upon us, many people will be away visiting family (including at least one of our Judges), so your patience with the results is appreciated.

Audition Round Results

Pete — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:53:55 +0000

The results from the Battle Audition Round are in, and I’m pleased to present our tournament competitors below. The math is simple: two or more “yeas” from our three judges move the entry on to the tournament. However, like all previous battles, everyone wins because everyone becomes a permanent part of the DylanRadio.com songpool – so don’t fret if you don’t see your fave in this list. That said, here is your list of competitors and their selected song:

A Band on Stage: License to Kill
Al Diesan & PinoTocco: With God On Our Side
Alessandro Cavazzuti: Trying To Get To Heaven
Ben Schuurmans & Luigi Catuogno: Every Grain of Sand
Bill Madison: Ballad Of A Thin Man
Blood on the Tracks: Tangled Up In Blue
Born 53: Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window
Bruno Cattivelli: Mama You Been On My Mind
David Bertsch: Lay Down Your Weary Tune
Dennis Heller: Things Have Changed
Die DoubleDylans: Taunus (Highlands)
Dylan Dogs: Blowing in the Wind
Frenchy Burrito: Things Have Changed
Frenchy Burrito And The Folk Pistols: Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)
Hard Rain: As I Went Out One Morning
Homesick Chronicles: Ballad of a Thin Man
HOW MANY ROADS: You Angel You
Invisible Republic: I’m Not There
Ivy: Tomorrow Night
Jacques Mees: North Country Blues
Kaj Wilhelm (Joker): Lenny Bruce
Kurt Matthew: Never Say Goodbye
Lou Belto: What Was It You Wanted (Cosa Volevi)
Luigi Catuogno: Man Gave Names To All The Animals
Maggie’s Farm Southern Band: I Shall Be Released
Matze Schmidt: Mainwasser (Highwater)
Maurenbrecher & Band: Eternal Circle
Michael Roberts: One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
PetTommy: License To Kill
Robobob: Shelter from the Storm (Division 5 Reconstructed)
Roger Holmroos: Girl of North Country
Slop Mountain Ramblers: Do Right To Me Baby
Sofia Laiti: I Shall Be Released
Stagwolf: Make You Feel My Love
Terry Cotton: Shelter From The Storm
The Bob Band: All Along the Watchtower
The Hideaways: From A Buick 6
The Highlights: Everything is Working
The Infidels: Senor
The Royal Alberts: From A Buick Six
Triple Moon: Not Dark Yet
Tudesque: Schweri Ziite (A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall)
Vaughn Young: Song To Woody
Wilbur: Outlaw Blues
Zelda Smyth: One More Cup of Coffee
Zimming Point: Like a Rolling Stone

The tournament will kick off next week, so check back for details. In the meantime keep on Bobin’!!

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!

Pete — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:16:08 +0000

I’m excited to announce that the BATTLE HAS BEGUN!! We kick off with an “audition round” in which our three judges (Fred Bals, Bruce Slutsky, & Karen Veith) will evaluate each entry and vote to see who will move on the first tournament round. Don’t worry if you don’t make the cut, because your entry will forever remain a part of the DylanRadio.com songpool, for requests and regular airplay. Speaking of which, all the entries have been added to the songpool so you can request your song, or your favourite entry and promote they heck outta yourself throughout the duration of the Battle! CLICK HERE TO CHECK ‘EM OUT!

Artists – if you see any problem with your entry, don’t hesitate to email me at battle@dylanradio.com with the complete text you want corrected. I wish each and every one of you the utmost success. I’m just so pleased that DylanRadio.com has this opportunity to showcase your talent!

PS: Thanks to all for your patience this past month. I hope your patience pays off with a great Battle!

Countdown to Battle…

Pete — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:28:48 +0000

All the entries are in, and we’re presently collating them and getting them ready for competition! We’ve got a great field this year, so keep your eyes peeled for details in the next couple of days!

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!

Pete — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:06:22 +0000

The time has finally come! Registration is now open for the 2011 Battle of the Dylan Cover Bands. We had a fantastic array of competitors over the past two years, so let’s make this third year even better! If you are a musical artist or band who has a broadcast-quality Dylan cover recorded, please click here for more information including how to register for the battle. If you are a fan or know someone who you think should enter, please encourage them to go to www.dylanradio.com/battle and get in the game! All entries must be in by October 1st!

Like last year, this year’s battle will be determined by three judges. Fans will also be able to vote, and we encourage you to do so because your votes might just sway a judges opinion! Now, let’s meet this year’s judges…

Fred Bals is a writer and researcher from New Hampshire, and one of the most respected commentators in the Dylan fan community. Fans of Fred’s Dreamtime Podcast (which kicks off our day here on DylanRadio.com every morning at 7am), are already familiar with his wife, “Jailbait Jones” and his two feline friends, “The Top Cats.” In addition to Dreamtime, Fred also runs DylanTweets on Twitter which provides regular Dylan news updates, as well as serving as a moderator on ExpectingRain.com. Among Fred’s other historical exploits, he’s saved Tom Waits from arrest, wooed Maria Muldaur, and fought with Johnny Rotten over ownership of a wedding ring.

Bruce Slutsky was born in New York City in 1949. He’s been a fan of Bob Dylan since Like A Rolling Stone was a hit in 1965. Bruce is also a kindred spirit because he has been a big fan of the New York Mets since the teams inception in 1962. His wife Karen and 23 year old son Lee share the same passions. When he’s not watching the Mets or listening to Dylan or covers of his songs he work as a science/engineering librarian for the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Check out Bruce’s blog at bruceslutsky.com where you can search for “Bob Dylan” and you’ll find tons of article he’s written on the subject.

Karen Veith is a retired high school English teacher turned Zumba instructor. A long-time Dylan fan who has attended a couple dozen shows, she’s also a well-known collector of Dylan bootlegs (over 1100 shows). For past several years, Karen’s been a moderator of the Never Ending Pool Dylan set-list game where you may know her better as “LaughsLikeTheFlowers.”

…it’s coming…

Pete — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:02:57 +0000

Shopping Support

Pete — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:56:47 +0000

Here’s a great, new way to support DylanRadio.com! If you’re like most people, including yours truly, you probably do a fair amount of shopping online. If so, here’s an easy way to support the station! All you need to do is bookmark dylanradio.com/shop or just click “Shop” in the top menu. Then, any time you want to shop at eBay, Amazon.com or iTunes, just use our shopping page as your portal to go to those sites. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, and these stores kick us a few pennies every time you buy something. Thanks in advance for your continued support!

Now to a couple of new additions to the song pool. I get some interesting things in the mail, including CDs and occasional donations, but here’s one that was definitely strange. Last week, I received a registered letter from the US State Department, specifically from the US Embassy in Slovenia. I KNOW! WEIRD, RIGHT? The envelope included a CD and a letter.

Here’s an exerpt:

Greetings from the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I am writing to you out of the blue for a very good reason: We have undertaken a completely unique approach to cultural diplomacy, and the result – besides being cool for reasons I will outline below – rocks.

The upshot is that we asked Slovenia’s best musicians to choose a different Bob Dylan song to cover. They chose wisely, as you can hear. The music styles reflect the diversity of Slovenia, and run the gamut from Vlado Kreslin (nicknamed “the Bob Dylan of Slovenia”) to world-famous soprano Sabina Cvilak to internationally-renowned Laibach.

We did it for several reasons, not least being that we love Dylan. But we also wanted to create a hook with which to grab Slovenian youth. Because 2011 is the E.U. Year of Volunteering, and we wanted to promote volunteerism and raise Slovenians’ awareness about a host of important issues, from human trafficking, violence against women, and asylum issues lo the environment, regional cooperation and civic activism. [...]

So to those who don’t think Bob’s music is just as relevant today, I say BOLLOCKS! We also received a great collection entitled “If Not For You: A Tribute to Bob Dylan” performed by artists Jack Tannehill, Will Hoppey, Steve Lane & Steve Sevek, and a tribute to the Basement Tapes by Invisible Republic entitled “A Basement Tapes Revival“. You can find all of these fascinating new additions in the songpool.

Fixin’ Stuff

Pete — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:42:02 +0000

Hey folks! I’ve been working all morning trying to fix this problem with the choppy broadcast, and I think we’ve finally got it licked. Thank you for your patience and continued support even through this buggy period. Bottom line, though, is I had to do some upgrading of services so between those upgrades, plus eating the additional costs of the birthday celebration & hard-drive upgrade, DylanRadio.com is in desperate need of your donations. We’ve got a number of new listeners in addition to our veterans, so I hope some of you pitch in and lend a hand with a donation. Again, continued thanks for your support. Keep spreading the Dylan love!!

PS: I’ve added the Odense, Denmark show to the songpool. Great to hear some of the DR Regulars had a great time together at that show.

New Goodies

Pete — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:09:50 +0000

Some tantalizing new sweets have been added to the songpool. Thanks to our beloved Wilbur for Thea Gilmore’s tribute to Bob. Go check ‘em out…