BY JENNIFER HOEGG
Kings County Advertiser/Register
Have a stunning rendition of Blowin’ in the Wind in your repertoire? Now’s your chance for online fame.
Dylan fans from around the world get their fix via an “underground” web radio station operating out of Port Williams.
“The world’s only Bob Dylan radio station” is Pete Freckelton’s hobby. The site - streaming Dylan music and Dylan-related audio 24hours a day - is hosting the second annual Battle of the Dylan Cover Bands.
“I create websites all the time. I just had this huge Dylan library and wanted to be able to listen to it anywhere,” Freckelton says about dylanradio.com’s birth four years ago.
The Windsor-area native has been a Dylan a fan for more than 20 years, since the folksinger’s appearance in We Are the World rescued Freckelton from the plight of “being a teenager in the ‘80s; I had nothing but fluff to listen to….”
While most of the site’s 1,000 daily visits come from the U.S. and Europe, it now counts 3,500 registered members from around the world.
“It’s shocking how global it actually is,” he says. “It’s amazing how popular an English-speaking singer is in Germany, Italy - Italy is huge - and Japan. It’s weird.”
Visitors can browse the Dylan Radio library, chat with other Dylan aficionados, make requests and dedications or make a suggestion; downloading is not an option. Freckelton legally purchases all commercial tunes in the library and offers links to other sites, such as iTunes and Amazon, where commercial releases can be purchased.
“My goal is not to deprive those artists of cash,” he says. “Quite the opposite.”
Covers of Dylan songs are popular, almost 50 years after the iconic musician’s first album.
“Even if you don’t love Bob Dylan,” Freckelton says, “I will bet you actually love his songs - you just don’t know they’re his.”
Inspired by the wealth of cover tunes, the site launched a virtual battle of Dylan cover bands last year. Entries poured in from “really unusual spaces.
“We had everything: foreign language, Dylan tribute-bands pretending to be Bob Dylan, covers, new interpretations and new arrangements.
“There was quite a scope; it’s really quite awesome.”
Entries even included duet of a Dylan song, translated into Japanese.
It wasn’t all light entertainment, Freckelton says.
“There a lot of foreign bands doing Dylan tribute-style. Bob Dylan can be hard to listen to at times. Bob Dylan with an Italian accent can be very hard to listen to. “
Winners of the 2009 contest earned “nothing but promotion.” This year, the top band will have the opportunity to have their tune included on the Paradiddle Records’ 2011 compilation Bob Dylan Uncovered 2.
This year’s contest already has quite a few entrants, weeks before the April 30 deadline. Drumming up local interest is one of Freckelton’s goals.
“Last year, I was disappointed that I did not receive one Canadian entry.
“Canada was drastically unrepresented.”
This year, a few Canadian artists have trickled in, but he would like to see at least one local entrant.
There is a local face on the judging panel. Last year, winners were chosen by online votes; this year, there will be voting - but the final decision rests with three judges. Local K-Rock radio host Darrin Harvey will help select the top artists, along with Bill Herman of Paradiddle Records and Fred Bals, a well-known podcaster in the Dylan fan community.
WEBLINK: www.dylanradio.com
