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BOB DYLAN & THE POETRY
OF THE BLUES
An Evening With Writer Michael Gray
Riverbank Arts Centre, Main St., NEWBRIDGE, Co. Kildare
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14, 8pm
tickets €12 & €10
Box Office: 045 448333
This is more a one-man show than a talk. The author of "Song & Dance
Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan" - the definitive study of Dylan’s
40-year body of work - uses a surprising selection of great records to
show how hugely Dylan has been inspired by the blues and how much of
its poetry has been smuggled inside Dylan’s own work.
Poet Laureate Andrew Motion named Gray’s huge study "Song & Dance
Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan" as one of the best three books of
2000. A fourth reprint was published in Summer 2002 at £15.99 -
a bargain at over 900 pages. Well over 100 of these pages are taken up
with a mind-blowing chapter on Dylan & the blues. It is the classic
work in its field.
Michael Gray’s book has earned truly exceptional reviews. Called ‘magnificent’ (Record
Collector), ‘overwhelming’ (The Times), ‘endlessly
illuminating’ (Rolling Stone) and ‘essential’ (Folk
Roots), it gained 5-star reviews in Q and Uncut, Greil Marcus admired ‘Gray’s
reach, tone and acuity’ and called the book’s research ‘amazing’,
while Christopher Ricks called the book ‘wonderfully comic and
serious and sharp’ and ‘monumentally illuminating’.
It was a Paperback of the Week in the Observer June 2003.
The book may be immense but there’s nothing dry or academic about
Michael’s talks. On the topic ‘Bob Dylan & the History
of Rock’n’Roll’ he has been a sell-out on American
college campuses and in the UK & Ireland at bookshops, libraries,
festivals, arts theatres and arts centres. His talk on ‘Bob Dylan & the
Poetry of the Blues’ is launched this year.
Michael Gray’s events are always lively, witty and acute, and mix
surprising slices of music and video/DVD with a thoroughly entertaining,
fresh account of music history and Dylan’s part in it.
LAST OCTOBER MICHAEL CAME TO IRELAND FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A SPEAKER/PERFORMER,
DID 8 GIGS IN 9 DAYS, ALL ON "BOB DYLAN & THE HISTORY OF ROCK'N'ROLL",
INCLUDING A PACKED-OUT WHELAN'S ON A RAINY TUESDAY NIGHT IN DUBLIN. HE
SOLD 200 COPIES OF HIS BOOK "SONG & DANCE MAN III: THE ART OF
BOB DYLAN" AT THOSE EVENTS.
THIS IS HIS FIRST DATE IN IRELAND SINCE THEN, IT DEBUTS HIS NEW TOPIC "BOB
DYLAN & THE POETRY OF THE BLUES" AND IT IS A ONE-OFF EVENT FOR
THE RIVERBANK ARTS CENTRE. HE FLIES IN SPECIALLY, AFTER APPEARING AT
THE HULL LITERATURE FESTIVAL IN YORKSHIRE THE NIGHT BEFORE.
WHAT THE PRESS SAYS ABOUT MICHAEL GRAY'S PERFORMANCES:
Sunday Tribune, Oct. 2002:
Michael Gray, the world’s foremost Bob Dylanologist, is telling
people how it really is... It’s a kind of book tour without readings.
Entertaining with wit and insight, Gray is clearly enjoying himself.
For now he’s doing a three month tour, bringing the word to the
faithful and the curious. Like his subject, he appears to have no choice
but to keep on keeping on.
Cork, Ireland, Oct. 2002:
Michael Gray is a witty, effusive, self deprecating speaker. A wonderful
eye-opener of an evening.
Highland News, Scotland, Nov. 2002:
A wonderful evening packed with information, insight and humour.
Colchester, England, 2002:
Not only a brilliantly researched talk but a highly entertaining evening
with rare video footage and little known songs interjected. A perfect
show for an arts centre - clever, funny and fresh.
FOR FURTHER INFO:
Michael Gray, 0044 1751 433439 or
Catríona Fallon
Visual Arts & Marketing Co-ordinator, Riverbank Arts Centre
(045) 448314 or 448315
(045) 432490
artscentre@riverbank.ie
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