A group of musicians from around the region have teamed up to host a fundraiser show supporting Paducah Cooperative Ministry in a concert celebrating legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s career.
The collaborative effort, led by local artists Luke Taylor and Cory Greene, have hosted similar shows in past years with tributes to The Beatles and Tom Petty.
Taylor said the group of artists was working on another charity concert featuring the hits from the band Nirvana prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor and Greene were wanting to relaunch their charity concert efforts, and were approached by local musician Brian Rader with the idea of holding a Bob Dylan show.
“I think with the Timothy Chalamet movie coming out, it kind of made everybody inspired to do it,” Taylor said. ”We all sat down together [to] try to find a bunch of songs that a lot of people would know and try to get people to come out. But this one kind of felt different, and we really picked a lot of our just favorite Bob Dylan tunes that we could really put our own spin on.”
Local musicians will be covering Dylan songs from albums including “Blood on the Tracks,” “Street Legal,” and “Free Wheelin’ Bob Dylan” at the concert.
Taylor said putting together this concert has helped expose him to more of the Nobel Prize-winning songwriter’s catalogue that spans more than 60 years.
“That's what I love about Dylan. Every album you get, just something completely different,”Taylor said. “I haven't really listened to albums like ‘New Morning’ too much before this. It has been a lot of fun. That's one of the main reasons why I enjoy doing this, not only to raise money for good charity, but it inspires me to really go through catalogues of some of the greatest that I might have missed.”
Artists set to perform at the tribute concert include Taylor, Brian Rader, Melanie A. Davis, Fate McAfee, Blake Brown and Taylor Rader. Taylor’s wife Mackenzie and local saxophonist Gavin Hayes will also play on a couple of tracks.
Taylor said he wanted to continue doing charity shows like these and is excited about what future shows might look like.
A Celebration of Bob Dylan fundraising concert for Bob Dylan is Saturday at 8 p.m. at Dry Ground Brewing Company in Paducah. The concert is free to attend, but Taylor said there is a suggested donation of $10 to go toward Paducah Cooperative Ministry.
