James E. Akenson
From the iron mines of Hibbing, Minnesota to the University of Minnesota, to the hip folk scene in New York, to the 1965 Newport Festival to Nashville, to just about everywhere else in the world Bob Dylan seems to have been everywhere. He also appeared in Cookeville, Tennessee recently. Well, that’s not totally accurate.
A fundraiser for Celebrate Recovery featured local artists singing Dylan’s songs. I’ve been told by a knowledgeable Dylan colleague, Michael Nadler of Albuquerque, New Mexico, that community Dylan sings are quite popular. Cookeville isn’t “The Hub of the Upper Cumberland” for nothing.
That brings to mind Country Music artist Alan Jackson. For a good while Jackson had an expensive home on nearby Center Hill Lake. Alan Jackson didn’t make the Cookeville “Community Sings Dylan.” Then again in his song Gone Country he wasn’t exactly liking some of the changes he saw in Country Music. Among other things he said that some of the new Country Music “some of that stuff don’t sound much different than Dylan.” That wasn’t a very kindly remark. Some of the other comments in Gone Country were even more sarcastic.
Well now. What does Alan Jackson’s comment really have to do with the Cookeville “Community Sings Dylan?” Lots! As a matter of fact, the question of “What is Country Music?” “Who is a Country Music artist?” and other questions never go away. Fans, artists, scholars, journalists, and music industry folks talk about it all the time. It’s all about authenticity.
To set the record straight, all his life Dylan has been interested in Country Music. As a young boy, he listened to Hank Williams and performed “Love Sick Blues” at the 2024 Outlaw Music Festival tour. He respects roots music. He recorded in Historic Columbia Studio A in Nashville. Country Music interacted throughout its history with different styles of music. No wonder that lots of the artists performing at the Cookeville Community Sings Dylan sound more than a touch Country.
Got to give credit to Tennessee Tech University Professor Andrew William Smith for being a driving force behind the Cookeville Community Sings Dylan event. It took place at the Cookeville Performing Arts Center (a.k.a. CPAC). As I walked toward CPAC I immediately saw evidence of the Dylan homage.
Abigail Rose, a singer songwriter, stood outside the CPAC backstage entrance warming up. She was the opening act singing Knockin’ On Heavens Door and She Belongs To Me. Take a listen to Abigail Rose. Take a look at Abigail Rose’s website.
As I approached the front of CPAC the electronic sign proclaimed “Community Sings Dylan”. The walk up the steps to CPAC seemed to suggest moving toward an imposing moment of cultural significance and reverence. Upon entering the CPAC lobby, Dylan reigned supreme. Andrew William Smith created a table of Dylan artifacts surrounded by even more Dylan artifacts…a virtual shrine.
A Rolling Stone vintage cover assures significance in U.S. popular culture. The Dylan artifacts created a history of his validity as a cultural icon. It struck me that Professor Smith knew a great deal about Dylan and didn’t come to Dylan just yesterday. Then again, Dylan did receive the Nobel Prize for Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” First time ever for a musician to receive, the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Did the Community Sings Dylan live up to its purpose? Yes. On two fronts. First, donations at the door raised over $2,000 for Recover Kitchen charity. Recovery Kitchen provides homeless individuals with food, employment, shelter, safety, compassion, and recovery from addictions. Second, each artist beginning with Abigail Rose to final artist Ziona Riley came ready to rock…or maybe country rock…or maybe country folk rock I enjoyed each artist for different reasons. Each artist sang two songs…but for Ziona Riley’s concluding long, long Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.
It’s hard not to be taken by the Ballingers. They’ve been a staple of Country Music in Cookeville and beyond for a long time. They’ve played with local legend Frazier Moss, as well as John Hartford and Chet Atkins. They’ve been on Austin City Limits. I’ve even written about them.
To me, they had a great life. Great artists, yet the stability of a ‘real job’ for Dale Ballinger as a school psychologist plus Kris Ballinger’s great work as a scrimshaw artist. They performed as The Cluster Pluckers for years. I love their drinking song Bottom of the Glass.
I also love their version of Farther Along. It’s a classic country gospel song. It’s also a balance to “Bottom of the Glass.” It balances sin with religious faith. The Sacred and Profane….Saturday Sinner and Sunday Saint…Heaven and Hell…good vs evil….runs through the heart of Country Music.
The Ballingers include their son Ethan who has a remarkable career playing with the likes of Lee Ann Womack and Aubrie Sellers as well as producing and recording. I particularly got caught up in the classic Dylan songs. That means the Dylan songs I actually know. The immense Dylan catalog of songs stuns me and shows me how little about Dylan I know.
The Ballingers batted .500. I didn’t know Tomorrow Is a Long Time. Of course, I knew The Times They Are a Changing. It was monster and I even use it in my teaching of social studies methods class for secondary majors. I sang along with “The Times They Are A Changing.”
My friend and Country Music colleague Jim Clark also found The Ballingers engaging. Clark said “I really enjoyed The Ballingers. I had heard them numerous times, but mostly in ‘bluegrass mode’. What they did at this event was airy and ethereal, musically, but it had some bite, too. “
Cherokee Hope…love her name as it sounds just a touch counter culture to me…also batted .500. Never heard It Takes a Lot to Laugh It takes a Train to Cry before the Community Sings Dylan performance. Cherokee Hope sang You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.” Now that is a Dylan song I know and have loved over the years. In fact, we sang it during informal picking at the 2025 International Country Music Conference.
Yes, indeed, I sang along enthusiastically. Friend Jim Clark also commented on his enjoyment of Cherokee Hope. He’s followed her career for some time. Cherokee Hope is from Clay County, Tennessee where Jim Clark’s family originally settled. Now that’s a ‘Country Girl’!
Jake Hoot, winner of The Voice, and a Cookeville resident also managed to bat .500. Never heard You Gotta Serve Somebody. I did mention Dylan’s immense catalog and I’m not a Dylanologist. But Blowin’ In The Wind is another matter. I particularly love Peter, Paul, and Mary’s version.
In fact, I saw Peter, Paul, and Mary in Caufman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota long ago. And…get this…I happened to make eye contact with Mary Travers and she smiled at me. Jake Hoot ‘done good’ on Blowin’ in the Wind and I got to sing along. What great lyrics asking about how many times must cannonballs fly before they’re forever banned and all the other questions that leave the answer blowin’ in the wind.
My last sing along opportunity came from Sarah Slade. I really enjoyed her total personae with a rose in her hair, black dress, and tall stand up bass. It looked like distressed camo yet classic dark wood. Sarah Slade also batted .500. Never heard Buckets Of Rain. But….let me tell you…I love “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright.”
It’s been covered by virtually everyone, but I particularly like Johnny Cash’s version. I did my best falsetto on ‘…you just kind of wasted my precious time. Don’t think twice it’s all right.” Thanks, Sarah Slade.
None of them chose Positively 4th Street. I like Positively 4th Street. I associate it with my days at the University of Minnesota when Dylan started performing in the Dinky Town district near campus. I heard rumors that Positively 4th Street, Dylan referred to a prominent Minneapolis folk musician. Can’t prove it, but I remember hearing something along those lines. I did indeed see this prominent folk musician at least a couple of times while at the University of Minnesota.
The other artists did well despite singing Dylan songs I didn’t know. Abagail Rose did well with her two songs. Ben Higgins did well with Forever Young and Make You Feel My Love. Doc Feldman had strong pro Civil Rights and social justice beliefs he made clear in Only a Pawn In Their Game plus Not Dark Yet.
I thought Hayden Mattingly and Honeybrook had real power and presence in Mozambique and If Not For You. Myster Dahctor, some stage name, struck me as a powerful artist doing Walking Down The Line and When I Paint My Masterpiece. Waren Gently energetically delivered Tangled Up in Blue.
Plus Blind Willie McTell meant something to me from Blues history. And finally, Nathon Dodson had strength on Pity the Poor Immigrant and Love Minus Zero No Limit. I just wish I knew more of Dylan’s catalog to sing along, share the vibe.
Of course, the finale that brought out all the artist on stage. They performed I Shall Be Released. Such a assemblage provides a final collective symbolization of unity in the music and spirit of Bob Dylan. It’s not quite an Altar Call, a come to Jesus commitment like Billy Graham did at his crusades, but it does provide the unity of the Dylan spirit. See it here.
There you have it. Quite an achievement for Professor Andrew Williams Smith and colleagues. I’m not a Dylanologist, but from beginning to end, the artists and the audience came to honor and enjoy Dylan. It was some kind of achievement to raise money for a charity helping the homeless. It was some kind of achievement to put together a list of artists who loved Dylan.
And…all in all they did indeed sound country, sound folkish, a bit country folk rockish. The mixture of artists reflected the same mixture of influences that Dylan brings to the table from growing up in Hibbing, Minnesota to his current touring.
Doc Feldman mentioned that Dylan was complex. Country Music and its roots relatives are far more complicated than what meets the eye. Country on, folk on, folk rock on. Y’all got this.
