Bob Dylan turns 76 on May 24, but West Chester band Mason Porter (and friends) gets the party started early on the 19th.
“This is the fourth year in a row we’ve done a Bob Dylan birthday show,” said guitarist and singer Paul Wilkinson. The music’ scheduled to get underway at 8 p.m. at Kennett Flash, 102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square. Tickets for the all ages show range from $18-$22. Go to www.kennettflash.org or call (484) 732-8295.
The bluegrass/folk/rock group makes it a point to avoid repeating any songs from year to year in its annual all-Dylan set. In all, they know how to play close to 90 of his songs. “He’s got an ocean of a catalog,” said Wilkinson, naming “Jokerman” and “Girl from the North Country” as two of his favorites. They recorded the latter on their 2010 covers album “Story of the Rifle.”
When asked for a sample of what to expect, he said: “It really does reach, from very early Bob to the 2000s Bob. We haven’t touched the Sinatra albums (Dylan’s three most recent releases have explored his favorite selections by iconic American songwriters).”
When asked where he was when he heard about Dylan being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Wilkinson said he first got the news on Facebook. “My dad’s a huge Bob Dylan fan. I called him immediately. I enjoyed the stories: ‘Is Bob Dylan literature?’ ‘Is Bob Dylan not literature?’,” he said.
Wilkinson’s take on Dylan’s icy and unconventional interaction with the Swedish Academy about accepting the Nobel award can be summed up by a quote from songwriter Leonard Cohen on the matter: “It’s like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain.”
In 2015 Mason Porter performed at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, including a set exploring the folk roots of The Grateful Dead.
Since 2008 Mason Porter has recorded three EPs and three full-length albums, getting their music played on WXPN, Sirius XM and other radio stations. Last year, they were listed in “Rolling Stone”‘s “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know.”
In April, Sly Fox Beer released a beer named after the group – Mason Porter porter – coinciding with a “Porter Fest” concert in Phoenixville where they shared a bill with The Sermon and Sammy Vile.
