I have been remiss about getting this interview with Steve Wynn posted because I've been doing things like... traveling to see Steve Wynn. So, I'll wrap a review of Wynn's recent Baseball Project show in Chicago in with this short Q&A about his new self-released CD, Steve Sings Bob.

First up, the Baseball Project. The show was a triple bill, with the BP, the Steve Wynn IV and the Minus 5. However, it was all the same band, with Wynn on guitar and vox, Scott McCaughey also on guitar and vocals, Peter Buck on bass and Linda Pitmon (Wynn's wife and drummer in the Miracle 3) on drums. They decided to play one big show rather than separate band sets, and that was a wise choice. They opened with the Dream Syndicate's "That's What You Always Say," which set a nice tone: laid back but with blisteringly good guitars. From there it was a mix of tunes from Wynn's latest, disc, Crossing Dragon Bridge ("Manhattan Fault Line") Dream Syndicate (a scorching "Medicine Show" and "Days of Wine and Roses") and even Gutterball ("Trial Separation Blues.") The first hour-long set closed with "Amphetamine," which was so good I feared the second set couldn't top it. Yes, there was some fall off, but not much as, McCaughey dominated that set with a sprinkling of Minus 5 tunes new and old.

The Baseball Project songs were the highlight of the night. "Harvey Haddix" got an update to include Mark Buehrle's recent perfect game (with a nice, harmonious bridge to note his accomplishment), while "Past Time" smoked and "The Yankee Flipper" had a few heartier souls in the crowd saluting with their middle fingers raised high. A new Baseball Project song was debuted, "Tony," which tells of player Tony Conigliaro, who was hit by a pitch in the eye.

All in all it was a fantastic show that reaffirmed my fandom of everyone involved. Strangest was seeing multimillionaire Peter Buck quietly playing bass on stage in a small bar. He's surely the richest person to set foot on that stage, which is testament to how much he must love playing live.

The band pulled out one cover: Neil Young's "Revolution Blues," passing on the chance to cover Bob Dylan and give me a less clunky segue into my interview with Wynn. Oh well.

Wynn has performed several Dylan songs over the years, and recently decided to gather a bunch of them on CD. The result, Steve Sings Bob, is a limited-edition (of 300) collection of Dylan covers from 1982 to present. Most are live, some more polished than others, but all are good and fully fitting the spirit of the material. In the liner notes on his site, Wynn shares one interesting story about "Blind Willie McTell." It was recorded by the latter-day Dream Syndicate in 1988 on a radio show, and released on a Bucketful of Brains magazine flexi the next year, "marking the first time the song had officially seen the light of day, a few years before Dylan's version was released on the first of his bootleg series. We even had to get the permission of his publishing staff to put out our version before he did."

The tracklist:

1. Blind Willie McTell (The Dream Syndicate)
2. Positively 4th Street (Steve Wynn and Loose Change)
3. Watching The River Flow (Steve Wynn and Friends)
4. Honest With Me (Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3)
5. Knockin' On Heavens Door (Steve Wynn with the Alejandro Escovedo Band)
6. All Along The Watchtower (The Dream Syndicate)
7. Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar (Steve Wynn Quintet)
8. Outlaw Blues (The Dream Syndicate)
9. Gotta Serve Somebody (Hazel Motes)
10. Like A Rolling Stone (Steve Wynn and Jason Victor)

I asked Wynn a few questions about the project, and he graciously responded, "from the middle of a van rolling across northern Washington...."

TIRBD: You've done a few covers here and there, but nothing to compare with the number of Dylan songs you've done. What is the appeal of his music from an interpreter's standpoint?

SW: Well, the most obvious answer is that he's a great songwriter with an incredible catalog of amazing songs. But, beyond that, the songs are usually easy to learn and leave a lot of room for interpretation (witness his own wide varieties of takes on his own material over the years). It's also a common language for musicians -- almost everyone loves at least one period of Dylan or another so it's easy to name a song when you're looking for a quick cover and know that there HAS to be one Dylan song in common between the various memory banks of the guys on stage.

What challenges do you face when tackling Dylan's work?

That's easy: remembering the words. Every song has at least 5 or 6 verses. I was joking to the band before our Italian show (Steve Sings Bob in Ravenna last month) that they had the easy job. And it's true. You can learn the music on the spot but it's not easy to fake the lyrics. Fortunately, so many of his songs are firmly embedded in my DNA.

Were there songs you've done that you wanted to include where you couldn't find a decent recording?

Not really. In fact, my favorite song on the CD was the version of "Gotta Serve Somebody" that I recorded with my "punk gospel" band Hazel Motes. And that version is VERY lo-fi, just an audience recording.

Is there a favorite Dylan song that you don't feel you can pull off?

I really wanted to do "Highlands." All 18 minutes of it. And I will definitely do it one day. But I'll need a teleprompter or a music stand.

Labels: Bob Dylan, Minus 5, R.E.M., Steve Wynn