Bob Dylan Confirmed for Australian Blues Festival

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Bob Dylan Confirmed for Australian Blues Festival
November 4, 2010
Spinner

Bob Dylan has been confirmed to appear at a small town Australian music festival next April, eight years after he was reportedly scheduled to play.

Topping the bill of the closing night at the 2011 Byron Bay Bluesfest, Dylan will be joining old-touring partner Elvis Costello and legendary guitarist BB King as a headliner at the five day Easter weekend festival (Apr. 21 to Apr. 25).

Bluesfest director Peter Noble claims that he has been 'chasing' Dylan to play the small north-east coast town in New South Wales -- 165km south of Brisbane -- booking him to play in 2003, but that he cancelled at the last minute.

Speaking to ABC news, Noble said, "He used to say, 'Don't put me in any town I've never heard of', and finally we've done it. Although I think he's heard of Byron now."

"Bob Dylan and B.B. King are rock royalty, and we especially wanted to get Dylan because of the counter-culture and protest music in his early career representing a lot of what Byron Bay was once about," Noble added.

"Byron used to be such an anti-establishment hippy town and to get Bob to play here has always been the Holy Grail...Elvis Costello is the icing on the cake of the best line-up we've had in years."

The Bluesfest has also confirmed Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Michael Franti and Spearhead, the Blind Boys of Alabama featuring Aaron Neville, Mavis Staples and Ben Harper to play. Harper will debut his new project Fistful of Mercy, which features George Harrison's son Dhani.