Baltimore BobFest: Night of 1000 Dylans

The Creative Alliance hosts Night of 1000 Dylans at the Patterson Saturday night. Put together by Baltimore contributor Geoffrey Himes—check out his story on Maryland Traditions' master/apprentice program in the June issue—it features a diverse lineup of locals covering songs from throughout Dylan's career. Junior Cline, ellen cherry, Lea Gilmore, the Beltways, the Stone Hill All-Stars (featuring members of the Polkats, Two Legs, and Mambo Combo), and Howard Markman are on the bill, along with Himes, who hosts and plays a few songs himself. Each artist will perform two or three songs of his/her choosing, before joining together for a finale. From Gilmore's gospel-tinged blues to the Beltways power-popping-rock, it will be fascinating to hear which Dylan tunes these folks select. Markman, who's profiled in today's Jewish Times, tells me one of his choices was a no-brainer. "This is Baltimore, so I'm definitely going to play `The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,'" he says. One of Dylan's best topical tunes, it's a scathing account of a deadly, racially-charged assault on a barmaid at a Baltimore society ball. "How could we not play that song?" asks Markman, whose new disc, Welcome to Smalltimore, is reviewed in our new issue and includes a fantastic cover of "Brown-Eyed Women," a tune co-written by Dylan's old friend, Jerry Garcia. The show starts at 7:30 pm and tickets are $15. Proceeds benefit the American Friends Service Committee, Roots Cafe, and the Creative Alliance.