Somewhere Down Below the Mason-Dixon Line

There was this concert:

Doug's brother Franklin sent him a message:

Subject: Information-The Dirt
Date: 12/16/98 6:41 PM
From: Bradley_Franklin/r2_mbr@fs.fed.us
To: mrjumbo@aol.com

If you go to

http://www.kfog.com/connection/news.html

and check on the Dylan story, you'll get the scoop on the dirt.
fb.

The link in his message led to a page that looked something like this:

 Music News
Dylan Taps Setzer for Mini-Tour

Brian Setzer is responsible for the album The Dirty Boogie and Bob Dylan is dirty right before he showers, so the connection is obvious. Even with knowledge of these spooky similarities, it's a bit strange that one man known for jumpin' jive and another who's known for wailin' would hit the road together for a three-week tour, beginning Jan. 26 in Fort Myers, Fla.

The thirty-nine-year-old Setzer will undoubtedly feel like a young man when he and his orchestra accompany the fifty-seven-year-old Bobfather of Rock on a fourteen-show swing through smaller-market cities in the Southeast, such as New Orleans, Birmingham, Ala., and Nashville. The tour concludes on Feb. 15 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Once this string of dates is wrapped up, Setzer will likely begin a new tour in Europe, while Dylan will either continue on with another act or take some time off.

BLAIR R. FISCHER (December 11, 1998)

 
...more Music News

Doug then did the needful, which was to send a message to Ken (in California) and Alex (in Quebec):

    Now I'm terrified.

    Feel like a trip to Nashville anytime soon?

    --D

Ken wrote back:

Wow, that sounds great! Have you ever seen Brian Setzer in concert? Simply
amazing -- highly recommended. Guess we could see Bob, too... :)


> Feel like a trip to Nashville anytime soon?

You bet. I feel like I need a little vacation soon and that would fit the
bill just perfectly. (Although it'll feel a little odd to be seeing Bob on
my second consecutive vacation. Make me feel like a DeadHead.)

Arguably, though, New Orleans might be a better idea. Have you ever been
there? It's definitely a fun town. Cool jazz, lotsa hookers. OTOH, I've
never been to Nashville and have always wanted to go.

Ken

So it kinda went from there.

Soon the Dylan site (http://www.bobdylan.com) put up an even bigger Dylan/Setzer poster, which just got everybody even more excited:

Tickets were arranged, flights were planned, hotels were booked, cars were reserved. Many many maps were considered, and gradually a route through the wilderness emerged. Here was the reasoning:

  1. As long as we're in Nashville, might as well visit Memphis, which is so close, it's practically in the same state.
  2. As long as we're renting a car to drive to Memphis, might as well visit New Orleans, which isn't a lot further.
  3. Hey, between Memphis and New Orleans is the Mississippi Delta, which is where all that music came from anyway.

So off we went.

Intro . . . Nashville morning . . . Ryman Auditorium . . . Soda cans (outside) . . . Soda cans (inside)

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