Monday, June 21, 2021

Introducing the Summer of Dylan and Lost Highway Series


My summer break has officially begun, and I am now hard at work on various writing projects, including a book chapter and article. (I have come crawling back to academic writing.) When I am doing these kinds of things I tend to have less energy for additional blog posts. HOWEVER I have decided to meld my writing projects and the blog. SYNERGY, BABY!

My book chapter deals with Bob Dylan, and I am pretty darn pleased to do my first piece of academic writing related to my personal interests. To get in the mood I have been doing a deep dive into Dylanalia, and made the decision to listen to all of his albums, in order, this summer. (Thank you, magic of Spotify.) Not only that, I am planning on listening to the relevant Bootleg Series entries in the chronological order of their recording, not release. As I have said on other occasions, the Bootleg Series stuff probably gives the true insights into Dylan's work, the moments behind the mask. As I listen and research I will be making periodic blog posts.

My article is a joint effort dealing with postwar America's fascination with the road. I plan on hitting the road myself this summer as I write, and so will be including travelogues of my own, along with analysis of books and films about the American road trip. The pandemic has been difficult in so many ways, one of the biggest being my inability to travel on the open road. This summer will involve a return to Nebraska and some points in between and I can't wait to share what I find.

The two topics work well together considering Dylan's own love of the road and his Neverending Tour, which hopefully will be able to hit the road again soon as the COVID clouds lift. I've even made an extensive Dylan road mix for when we finally do take to the highway. This past year has been so awful, I am ready to share some joy.

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