Howdy folks:
Welcome to Michael Perry’s Voice Mail, episode 332. This one’s available to free and paid subscribers alike. Click the player above to listen.
In this episode, I take you behind the scenes to experience the process of writing introductions to a bunch of Bob Dylan songs to be covered by Justin Vernon (some know him as Bon Iver) and then taking a chosen few of them to the stage.
Scroll down for photos and more details.
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Forward!Mike
MARGINALIA
(Annotations from books Mike is reading, or annotations related to the episode)
I sat in rehearsals and just wrote (video stills courtesy Blaize Fobbe and crew):
When drummer Sean Carey sang a couple we had to decide between dubbing him Sean Iver or Bon Carey. Went with Sean Iver:
Rough draft of an intro written during rehearsal:
Compared to final draft for show:
During the actual show I tracked the set list on my iPad in real time, crossing out each song as the band played it (see screenshot below). It was exciting because although I wrote intros for every song on the setlist, I knew ahead of time Justin would only call for a couple of intros. And whenever he deviated from the set list I had to swipe left and right like sixty to find the right song. The big red “DO THIS” was my self-reminder that this intro was to be done whether Justin called it or not.
All of the Bon Dylan intros—including those not performed—are gathered here.
Brief video view from behind the “Voice of God” microphone sidestage during soundcheck:
Same view after the people show up for the afternoon show:
And then for the evening show:
Crowd viewpoint:
The man they all came to see and hear. We’ve put on some miles over the years. Despite what you may have heard, I am not his uncle.
This week’s read:
This observation remains mordant:
Cinderella & Company is available on BookShop.org and Amazon.
As ever, I continue to dip in and out of the letters of John Steinbeck. I may never finish them. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters is available on Amazon and BookShop.org.
Those are affiliate links. We get a penny in the jar.
All my books including Population 485 (recently optioned for production as a Broadway musical) are available at the Sneezing Cow store, as well as T-shirts, recordings, the PBS specials, and sneezing cow koozies.
The Sneezing Cow TikTok is here and the Instagram is here.
If you’d like to receive all episodes of Michael Perry’s Voice Mail (paying subscribers get advance reads, advance news, and materials not shared on social media), click on the button below (it says “Subscribe Now” but you won’t actually be subscribed until you review your options and confirm):
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