If It's Too Loud...

We haven't brought you any new music from Tristen this year, but the Nashville musician and blog favorite just released a cover of Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages." While Dylan's original from 1964 is a classic folk song, Tristen adds a bit more folk-pop to the track. It fits in perfectly with her sound while keeping the spirit of the original intact. The cover is perfectly lovely, and adds just enough to the song to make it sound like Tristen. We're always thrilled to hear anything new from Tristen, and we always love when she releases a cover. Even better, this is the first song from an upcoming covers album from the artist, so we're definitely looking forward to that! You can listen to Tristen's version of "My Back Pages" below. Stay tuned for more on  Official Strawberry Classic. For more on Tristen, check out the artist's website . My Back Pages (Bob Dylan Cover) by tristen

Photo by Adam Wallacavage As part of the Spotify Holiday Singles collection, Kurt Vile enlisted his daughters to record a cover of Bob Dylan's "Must Be Santa." While the song may not be originally done by Dylan, Vile used his version as a starting point, and then goes off wildly in his own direction. Considering Bob Dylan is a folk legend, and Kurt Vile is one of the most well respected indie guitar rockers out there today, you'd assume his version f "Must Be Santa" might go that way, even if Dylan's is much more polka than folk. Instead, the Vile family's version is an upbeat synth pop version. It's somewhere between 80's synth pop and the early 00's synth pop revival. It's an unexpected but truly fun take on the song that is a perfect late addition to any holiday playlists. You can listen to Kurt Vile & His Daughters' version of "Must Be Santa" below. For more on Kurt Vile, check out the artist's website .

Photo by Megan Toenyes "Oh, Sister" is one of those Bob Dylan songs that should be a lot more well known. Off of 1976's Desire , it's virtually perfect. Yesterday was Bob Dylan's eightieth birthday, and it also saw the release of Happy Birthday Uncle Bob! A Dylan Tribute  featuring thirteen covers of Dylan classics. Lydia Loveless took on "Oh, Sister" and completely reimagined it. The lyrics and the male/female vocals remain intact, but while Dylan's original is a smooth folk/soul classic, Loveless gives the song a modern pop sound with a beat that's borders classic drum 'n' bass. It's an interesting take on the song that works much better than I expected. You can listen to Lydia Loveless' cover of "Oh, Sister" below. Happy Birthday Uncle Bob! A Dylan Tribute  is available now on Bandcamp and features covers from HEELS, Jon Snodgrass and His Buddies, Shane Sweeney, and more! For more on Lydia Loveless, be sure to check ...

At the risk of this site becoming an unofficial Sierra Ferrell fan page, here's her doing a cover of Bob Dylan's "Walkin' Down the Line." Recorded as part of her recent livestream series, her version keeps the classic folk sound and feel of the original. Of course, Dylan songs aren't usually referred to as bouncy, but in Ferrell's hands "Walkin' Down the Line" turns into an upbeat cheery folk song. There is so much joy in the performance of this song that it's impossible not to get sucked into it. If anything, this reminds me more of Spirit Family Reunion than Bob Dylan. You can watch Sierra Ferrell covering "Walkin' Down the Line" below. For more on Sierra Ferrell, check out the artist's website .

We're now in the timeline where our favorite weirdo steamcrunkers are doing straightforward Bob Dylan covers. Walter Sickert of Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys fame has released a cover of Dylan's iconic "The Times They Are a-Changin'" which obviously reflects our current times. It's just a straight up vocals/guitar/harmonica cover of one of the more legendary songs from one of the most legendary musicians still out there.  In a message that went out to their followers on Bandcamp, they said: “Hi Friends, It's been quite a mindfuckitude to be isolated from everyone and everything we hold dear except our tiny little family. We could not be more grateful to you for the continued support. The future is uncertain, the arts sector is decimated, and a return to "normal" is just not going to happen (at least not any time soon) so this support has been invaluable. Walter made this cover with a deep feeling of gratefulness to you. Thank...

Photo via Facebook We're dangerously close to becoming a Tanya Donelly fansite since she's been posting weekly covers lately, but this is Tanya Donelly we're talking about, so how can we resist? This week's entry for her Sunday Series is a cover of Bob Dylan's masterpiece "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." Donelly's version of the classic still has plenty of folk elements but leans more into the dream pop she made famous with Belly back in the 90's. It reminds me a lot of her early solo work, and would have made an amazing closer for Lovesongs for Underdogs. On the Bandcamp page for the single, Donelly wr ites:  " I won’t wax on about Bob Dylan’s impact on my love for lyrics — endless others have expressed what he’s given to us far more eloquently than I ever could — but the leaning reader in this poem pretty well describes how I have always listened to him. Like reading a great book — that rush of receiving a perfect string of words...

Photo by Angelina Castillo for Third Man Records Considering how much I love Margo Price, Bob Dylan, and covers, somehow this one slipped by me for two months. As part of Spotify Singles, Margo Price (who had my 2017 album of the year with All American Made ) has released a cover of Bob Dylan's iconic but possibly overlooked "Most Likely You Go Your Way." Price keeps Dylan's classic ramblin' style for the song, but injects just enough of her own vintage, shiny classic country into it to make it her own. It's quite literally the perfect kind of cover: Not an imitation and doing the song in your own style, but keeping enough of the original so that it's still recognizable as the original. You can listen to Margo Price's version of "Most Likely You Go Your Way" below. For more on Margo Price, check out her website . 

For the 7th episode of the Newport Folk Festival podcast , they focused on '65 Revisited. This year marks the 50th anniversary of when Bob Dylan went electric at Newport, probably the most legendary single performance of all time. Originally the organizers of Newport weren't going to mark the anniversary, but artists in the Folk Family started contacting them looking to be a part of it. This lead to it happening organically, and not a forced "moment" just for the sake of having a moment. The Newport organizers are being extremely tight lipped about who is performing as part of this. All we know is that it will close out the festival on Sunday, it will be full of surprises, and Bob Dylan won't be there. At this point, we don't even know what it will be. A song by song reenactment from current bands? A bunch of acoustic artists plugging in (probably the least likely)? J Mascis and Jim James having a wall of noise for 45 minutes? It could be anything at this poin...

I consider myself a Bob Dylan fan, but I'm by no means one of those obsessive, all collecting fans of Dylan. Because of this, I know literally nothing about what he was putting out in the 80s, but I've heard it isn't exactly up to his normal level. So, of course a bunch of indie bands have decided to cover nothing but songs he released in the 80s for a new tribute album, Bob Dylan in the 80s: Volume One. The album will feature the likes of Deer Tick, Reggie Watts, Lucius, Blitzen Trapper, and more. Most importantly, it features Built to Spill covering "Jokerman" off Infidels. Like any Built to Spill cover, it stays completely true to the original while somehow making it completely their own. You can download a free copy of "Jokerman" over at Rolling Stone's website . For more information on Bob Dylan in the 80s: Volume One, click here .