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Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers bring their tour to Boston
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Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers bring their tour to Boston

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, but I enjoy it more than probably ever,” he adds. “If you’re physically capable of touring and you like doing it, what would be better?”

Apples don’t fall too far from the tree.

bob dylan It couldn’t have been an easy tree to grow, let alone thrive, but it’s something Dylan has done beautifully with The Wallflowers. Some 32 years after releasing their self-titled debut, and 28 years after their seminal 4xPlatinum T Bone Burnett-produced album, “Bringing Down the Horse,” Dylan’s Grammy-winning Wallflowers, through all their incarnations, move on .

Now on tour with Jeff Slate, a musician and freelance journalist who interviewed Bob for the Wall Street Journal in the 22nd – The Wallflowers enter Wilbur from Boston on November 6 and Strand from Providence on November 8.

But in conversation, Dylan is a witty thread. He speaks quickly, jokes often. Our wide-ranging conversation, from Tom Petty to his brother’s days in Massachusetts to Ken Burns, is peppered with jokes and laughter.

So, Wallflowers’ most recent album was “Exit Wounds” (2021). You told me that you are “collecting songs” and hope to make a new album soon. What is your composition process like?

It varies. Looking for new ways to do it if you have any tips.

(Laughs) Not me.

(Laughs) I don’t know. The more you try, the less you seem to get. You have to wait for good ideas to come to you, and when they do, hopefully you’ll have a pencil, paper, and guitar handy. It’s a lot of work. I may have overthought the whole process, but I need to put in the time to complete the songs and make an album.

“You were executive producer and host of the documentary.”Echo in the Canyon(2018). What sparked that project? It’s almost like a Ken Burns-type telescope to look at Laurel Canyon music. That’s a big company.

It’s a great company. When I started, I didn’t realize what a great company it could be. I thought it might take six months. It was more like three years. You start a documentary, it’s about one thing, then you put together all the information, the interviews, and suddenly it’s about something else. Evolve. I admire anyone who does it and Ken Burns does it constantly.

Would you work in another one?

If the right opportunity arose. I do have skill with musicians: I am not a journalist, I am a colleague. People talk differently to their peers.

TRUE. I think you had the last interview with Tom Petty on film. You said the song “Who is that man walking through my garden?”was inspired by Tom.

It was pretty much on my mind. I got to see it up close as a teenager, when music meant more. You can consume music your whole life, but there’s nothing like being 15 years old.

And it was very encouraging. I wouldn’t say that all members of the old guard are necessarily encouraging. Many of them have a competitive nature, which I understand; That’s one of the reasons they keep going. Tom became a guiding light of encouragement.

It’s interesting. You started a band at 15. Did you always want to get into songwriting? Did you deviate?

When I started, I was sure I would be a guitarist. I still want to be (laughs). When we were kids, we played covers. Over time, you realize that it’s good to have your own songs. Very soon I realized that at least I understood how to write a song, not necessarily a good one, but I was surprised that it didn’t come naturally to everyone. I started writing because someone in the band had to. I’m glad I did it. Anyone can do it. It’s not something difficult. I mean, write good songs that people as It’s a different story.

(Laughter) But sometimes a composer says he couldn’t help but write.

Did I have to do it? I don’t think I had to do it. The world has many songs. I just liked it. I still don’t know of any natural effect better than writing a song, showing it to people and hearing it come out of the speakers. I don’t know anything that moves me so much. You are building something from nothing that didn’t exist before. It’s profound when it works. It is a gift to yourself.

The Wallflowers’ first name was The Apples.

(Sighs) Yes, I’m told it wasn’t a great name.

(laughs)

(Laughs) I don’t think we imagined logos and a name on the marquee. But yeah, that was the beginning of what became The Wallflowers.

You’ve also made solo albums. What do you like about the band versus the soloist?

I don’t know if I would do it alone again. I think I found a way to combine the two (different sounds I was going for). I thought there was a different sound I was going for that didn’t require the noise of a rock band. I didn’t find, at least at the time, I was able to fit that into what The Wallflowers were doing.

Who came up with “The Wallflowers”? It’s such a classic and strong band name.

If I’m honest, I don’t remember. It was probably me. But I feel sorry for today’s bands: they don’t have names anymore. You can’t pronounce half of them. We’re out.

(laughs)

I like the classics: The Sonics, The Ventures. I don’t know how you do that today. Everything is taken. We have reached the end of that era.

The industry has changed a lot since the ’90s. Do you think you could start The Wallflowers today?

I don’t envy people today. I don’t know how you do it. Obviously, social media didn’t exist back then. The good news is that there are many more opportunities. The bad news is many more opportunities. It’s just clogged. I don’t know how someone gets noticed above the noise.

Your children play music. Do they want to enter the industry?

They enjoy it. No one has mentioned being in the industry. I no longer know if those dreams go hand in hand. There is no record business. It’s the travel business, the touring business, the social media business.

His dad tweets more than you today.

Yes, like most people, I can’t tell you what’s going on with them. I have seen them. I can’t (laughs) I can’t tell you what it is. I’m not sure. But you’re right: whatever it is, it’s more than what I do.

(laughs) I know you’ve been asked this a million times, but growing up, you said it didn’t seem strange to you to be the famous kid’s son.

I mean, I was aware that I wasn’t the same as the next person. But your reality is whatever it is. I can’t say it’s weird, because I haven’t walked in anyone else’s shoes.

(Laughs) When I interviewed him cat powerChan Marshall, told me he knew your brother Sam from his days at Supreme Dicks, at Hampshire College in Western Mass.

Yeah, maybe I should take some of the pressure off. He started a band before me. Saw some good bands there; I think Nirvana played in the dining room (in 1990).

Oh. So Wallflowers’ debut was in ’92, but everything changed in ’96. Did you have a moment when you felt like you had made it?

The first time you hear your song on the radio it transports you. You can make CDs, cassettes, print a piece of vinyl and that’s all yours. But when it’s on the radio and other people hear it, it’s a mind-blowing moment.

Would you be on tour or doing a show with your dad?

I am available. He knows how to find me.

THE BALLS

At the Wilbur, Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. thewilbur.com

The interview was edited and condensed. You can contact Lauren Daley at [email protected]. she tweets @laurendaley1.