{"id":5752,"date":"2025-05-14T09:45:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T13:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/?page_id=5752"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:38:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:38:50","slug":"dylan-in-the-village","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/songblog\/dylan-in-the-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Elijah Wald presents “Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village,” a historical concert"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Elijah Wald, musician and author of Dylan Goes Electric!<\/em>, the book that inspired the hit movie A Complete Unknown<\/em>, presents an evening of music and stories tracing Dylan’s early years in New York.<\/p>\n

Dylan arrived in Greenwich Village in 1961 and joined a vibrant musical world from which he emerged as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. An expert guitarist, singer, and raconteur, Elijah brings audiences into that world, tracing Dylan’s progress as he met and traded songs with Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Dave Van Ronk, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Eric Von Schmidt, Jean Ritchie, and others.<\/p>\n

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Elijah Wald onstage at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village, credit: R.I. Sutherland-Cohen (hi-res available at https:\/\/www.elijahwald.com\/waldpic.html)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elijah is the author of both Dylan Goes Electric!<\/em> and\u00a0Dave Van Ronk’s memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street<\/em>, which inspired the Coen Brothers movie, Inside Llewyn Davis<\/em>. He grew up on the folk scene and was friends with many of the people in this program, hanging out with Elliott, performing with Von Schmidt, and becoming particularly close with Van Ronk, whose couch served both him and Dylan as a frequent resting place (though not the same nights).<\/p>\n

This program follows Dylan from his arrival in New York through the moment when he went electric at the Newport Folk Festival. It ranges from old folk songs (“The Cuckoo,” “Nottamun Town”) to obscure early Dylan compositions (“The Old Man,” “If I had to Do It All Over Again”) and familiar masterpieces (“Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Masters of War,” “Mr. Tambourine Man”), tied together with stories about Dylan’s friends and influences and tracing his development from a raw folk and blues singer into the voice of a generation.<\/p>\n

For more about Elijah, visit his homepage<\/a> or sample his Songobiography<\/a> site, which includes videos of hundreds of songs with associated stories and commentary. He also has a booking\/promo page<\/a> with more biography, quotes from reviews, peers, and concert promoters, and some live videos. Or you can contact him directly by writing to elijah at elijahwald dot com.<\/p>\n

Downloadable poster for Dylan show<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some video samples of “Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village,” from Club Passim, Cambridge, Mass., August 2025:<\/p>\n