Dylanesque

There are certain musical artists who possess voices that absolutely DO NOT appeal to a large segment of the music-listening public. This has always been the case. A lot of people didn't like Elvis's twang, Buddy Holly's "o-ah-oh" pronunciations, or Johnny Cash's semi-monotonous (yet still awesome) baritone growl, or even Frank Sinatra's croon (how could you not like that?).

In the annals of American popular music, I would have to say that at the top of this "acquired taste" heap would have to be Bob Dylan's nasally, whiny, uber-literate wheeze.

For the non-initiated Dylan listener, the first thing that a critic will generally seize on is the purported "fact" that "BOB DYLAN CAN'T SING!" While somewhat true in a traditional sense - he doesn't possess what passes for a generally-accepted beautiful singing voice - Bob Dylan used what he had and in so doing, made "not singing" an absolute art form. By becoming a world renown singer/songwriter without a great singing voice, he paved the way for many, many, many others who were in a similar predicament - they had something important to say through their music, but lacked the traditionally beautiful singing voice that was generally necessary to become a recording artist.

Dylan shattered that mold. And in terms of his own relevance, the quality of his singing voice is absolutely unimportant. Regardless of whether or not one likes Bob Dylan (and his accompanying vocal chords), at this point in history, his contributions that to popular music cannot be denied.

He single-handedly changed the face of folk, rock n' roll, and one could argue, country, during his heyday in the 60's. In "going electric" at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25, 1965, he simultaneously changed the direction of both folk music and rock music. His onetime backing band - aptly and simply known as The Band went on to become one of the most influential groups in rock history. Beyond the popularity of his own songs, cover versions of his songs are now counted as several of the most popular songs in American music history - "All Along the Watchtower" as performed by Jimi Hendrix, "Blowin' in the Wind" as performed by The Kingston Trio, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" as performed by Eric Clapton, Guns n' Roses, and Warren Zevon, "Mr. Tambourine Man" by The Byrds, "Forever Young" as sung by Rod Stewart, and many, many more.

Thousands of artists count Dylan as an inspiration and many have attempted to usurp his lyrical style and seemingly scattershot stream-of-consciousness poetry. Lyrics have always been viewed as "poetic," but nobody in popular music - at least within the folk genre - over the past 50 years has been as prolific or poetic as Dylan (even though Leonard Cohen is close - if not nearly as popular - and Nick Drake might have come close had he not died so young). Not quite as many artists have attempted to emulate his vocal style, however. Until relatively recently, that is - with similarly polarizing results.

Folk has always been a relatively popular genre, but after its popularity explosion during the late 60's and early 70's, it was generally relegated to the soft-rock Dan Fogelberg/James Taylor/John Denver/Harry Chapin/Jim Croce adult-contemporary music store shelf. It pretty much stayed there for about 30 years. After the turn of the millennium, however, folk music has made a strong resurgence into the popular music consciousness. Folk is now pretty much par for the course in alternative and indie rock music. Sufjan Stevens, Devendra Banhart, Jose Gonzales, Joanna Newsom, Iron & Wine, The Avett Brothers, and countless others have taken up the mantle in the neo-folk (and/or freak folk) movement.

The Hold Steady' s Craig Finn is an ridiculously literate front man with pretty much no singing ability. He sing-speaks all of his meanderingly poetic stories over his band's good old fashioned bar rock. Joanna Newsom mewls her way through bizarre lyrics in (some would say) excruciating fashion while simultaneously playing exceptionally beautiful music on her harp (yes, harp). Devendra Banhart's nasal vibrato sounds like pretty much nothing else - perhaps an elf singing whilst sitting atop a shuddering washing machine. The point is - these singers are currently extremely popular - and simultaneously extremely unpopular. People either love them or hate them (Me personally - I love The Hold Steady and Devendra Banhart, but I'd rather have screwdrivers jammed into the corners of my eyes than listen to Joanna Newsom) - there's very little "grey area" in between.

But not many folks purposefully emulate Dylan's nasal whine...mostly for fear of being labeled "Dylanesque" idol worshipers who apparently don't have the creative capacity to come up with a style of their own. Being considered "unoriginal" in indie-rock circles is generally considered worse than just being flat-out bad. Being told that you sound "just like someone else" is generally considered a kiss of death in modern rock music.

So it comes as somewhat of a surprise that there now exist two bands (that I have recently come across) that make absolutely no attempt to hide the fact that the sound strikingly similar to Bob Dylan. And I would assume that if asked, they would both not hesitate to list him as one of their main influences. And amazingly, they are both growing in popularity and national prominence - and they both kick ass in a big way.

The Felice Brothers

The first group that I'd like to mention is The Felice Brothers. The are a bizarre outfit of brothers (minus friend Christmas) from the Woodstock, NY area. The sing songs of vengeance, redemption, failed relationships, and broken-down welterweights. In a similar vein to Dylan and The Band, their music (and the themes therein) are generally almost universal. The songs almost sound as if they could have been written in 1850 - or just as easily 2008.

Many people seem to be fighting their popularity because they assume that The Felice Brothers are simply utilizing the same route already treaded by Dylan and The Band. Me personally, I don't see anything AT ALL wrong with that...we could use some music that good in today's increasingly terrible musical landscape. But if you ever see these guys live, it becomes evident fairly quickly that they aren't really "putting on a show" or "impersonating" anyone...they are who they are, they sing what they sing, and they're not doing it for anyone but themselves. Very impressive.

Here's a little blurb about them:

"They charm like a snake oil salesmen in a 19th-century medicine show; they stomp the boards like spirit-filled preachers; they close their eyes when they croon their imperfect (and therefore paradoxically perfect) Catskill Mountain harmonies; they smile wickedly when they drop into a groove; they bring a little bit of that front porch feeling with them wherever they go.....and their all the more golden and beautiful for it."
Gabe Soria / Mojo Magazine

I highly recommend checking them out.
Their Myspace Page - (especially check out "Frankie's Gun")
Their Website



Ezra Furman & The Harpoons

I'm not really even going to try to explain these guys. They are a band from Boston/Chicago. They are completely different than The Felice Brothers - Ezra's lyrics tend to be one of two things - either exceptionally biographical or fullblown stream-of-consciousness insanity. In both cases, they are very affecting. And his voice - that shrieking, nasally, weird voice - unapologetically reminiscent of Dylan. Actually, Ezra's much less restrained than Dylan. Check him out, as well.

EF & TH Myspace - especially I Dreamed of Moses
EF & TH Web Site