Bob Dylan & The Heartbreakers at Farm Aid '23 with Rebecca Slaman

In this episode Laura talks to writer and friend of the pod Rebecca Slaman about Bob Dylan’s surprise appearance at this year’s Farm Aid, where we played a short set with the Heartbreakers.

Here’s a fun fact I only figured out after the episode was finished: the song that preceded Dylan’s remarks about American farmers during Live Aid was in fact The Ballad of Hollis Brown!

I erroneously said that Stan Lynch was on the drums, but it was actually Steve Ferrone.

Make sure you subscribe to Rebecca’s Substack!

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

"Dear Bob": Sinéad O'Connor's Letters to Bob Dylan

In this episode, Laura welcomes back Harry Hew for a conversation about Sinéad O’Connor’s open letters to Bob Dylan.

A quick note – after converting to Islam in 2018, she adopted the name Shuhada’ Sadaquat, but since she continued to work under her birth name, we refer to her as Sinéad O’Connor in this episode.

Head over here to read all the letters Sinéad O’Connor wrote to Bob Dylan.

Thank you to Thérèse Mullan for her voice acting as Sinéad.

Theme music and sound design by Robert Chaney.

Check out the Creative Arts Psychotherapy YouTube channel Harry mentioned.

Also do yourself a favour and watch Harry’s excellent presentation on Bob Dylan’s sense of humour here.

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

Robbie Robertson's Legacy with Harry Hew

In the light of Robbie Robertson's recent passing, I really wanted to have a conversation about this artist whose life not just ran alongside Dylan's a decade, but converged for crucial periods of both their careers. So I asked the biggest The Band fan I know, my Canadian friend Harry Hew, to jump on a call and talk to me.

One note: I make a reference to "Dominique", and thought I should clarify that I'm talking about Dominique Robertson, Robbie's first wife. I'm referring to an incident that occurred after an inebriated Richard Manuel asked to drive the Robertson's new Mustang, and then lost control over the car, which ended up sideways in a ditch. 

Follow Harry Hew on Twitter!

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

"Oh Mama!": Women & Dylan with Rebecca Slaman

In this episode, Laura talks to writer Rebecca Slaman about the ladies, babies, mamas, girls, and many many queens that inhabit Bob Dylan’s songs.

Subscribe to Rebecca’s Substack, and watch her Tulsa paper here.

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

"Her heart blood did flow": Bob Dylan's Murder Ballads of the Early 1960s

TW: murder, suicide, racial violence

When Bob Dylan began his career, murder ballads were having a bit of a moment. In this episode, we’ll look into the influence these songs had on the young artist, and how they inspired a particular subset of his own early songs.

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.