Shelter from the Storm: A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of “Blood on the Tracks”

I am so excited to announce that I have partnered with the Bob Dylan Center to co-curate and serve as musical director for one of my all time favorite albums. So many great friends and heroes are involved, it’s going to be an absolutely incredible show. Here is the full press release from the Bob Dylan Center:

In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Bob Dylan’s classic album “Blood on the Tracks,” the Bob Dylan Center will present a major multi-artist concert featuring an exciting array of musicians for whom Dylan and his 1975 song cycle remain touchstones of inspiration and wonderment. This one-night-only event will take place on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa’s 100-year-old honky-tonk where Dylan himself has performed.

With acclaimed actor Luke Wilson serving as emcee, the concert will highlight all of the songs on “Blood on the Tracks,” including “Tangled Up in Blue,” “Simple Twist of Fate” and “Shelter from the Storm,” as well as a wide assortment of other Dylan songs from across his expansive discography, all performed by a house band and a rotating cast of featured performers.

Confirmed participants include (in alphabetical order): Nashville-born, New York-based country singer-songwriter Laura Cantrell; Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member and curator of the Bob Dylan Center’s Perspective Jukebox Experience Elvis Costello; singer-songwriter Martin Courtney of indie-rock band Real Estate; singer-songwriter Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs; three-term U.S. Poet Laureate and Bob Dylan Center Artist-in-Residence Joy Harjo; singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock; renowned Atlanta-based visual artist and musician Lonnie Holley; award-winning jazz vocalist and pianist Diana Krall; Minnesota-based folk singer-songwriter Paul Metsa; Kansas City–based singer-songwriter Kevin Morby; singer-songwriter Amy Ray of folk-rock duo Indigo Girls; award-winning actor Michael Shannon accompanied by indie-rock musician Jason Narducy; singer-songwriter Emma Swift; singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten; and singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams.

Setting the evening’s musical tone will be a house band of accomplished musicians including (in alphabetical order): indie-rock band Chatham County Line (Greg Readling, John Teer, Dave Wilson); solo artists and in-demand session musicians and producers Brad Cook and Phil Cook; and Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jessee, all based in Raleigh, N.C. Event co-curator Doug Keith will round out the house band and serve as music director.

Additionally, three musicians who played with Dylan on “Blood on the Tracks” will perform: drummer Bill Berg, keyboardist Gregg Inhofer, guitarist Kevin Odegard and bassist Billy Peterson. Odegard will play the same acoustic guitar he played on the recording session with Dylan. In 2019, Odegard donated the Martin guitar to the Bob Dylan Center, where it has been on display since the center’s grand opening in 2022.