The stage at the Thirsty Pagan, Superior, WI

It was raining sideways as Heather and I rolled into the mini-twin cities of Superior, WI, and Duluth, MN. Looking for a respite from the rain, we turned off the main road to see what we could find. We soon happened upon the Thirsty Pagan Brewery, a promising name on a promising looking building with vintage signs and historic warehouse architecture. We made ourselves at home, ordered a couple of pints of Gitchigummi Gold and played a few hands of Rummy. As the afternoon became evening a band came in to set up and with the rain persisting, we decided to give them a listen. We felt instantly at home when the opening strums and harmonica wails of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" reached our ears, here just a few miles from Bob Dylan's home town of Hibbing Minnesota. It didn't hurt that the harmonica/guitar player vocalist had a voice like Townes Van Zandt either. We stuck around and were later befriended by the drummer, a Chicago Native (45th and Western), who soon insisted that we join them for a couple of numbers, which we were happy to do. The evening was one of those rare stream-of-consciousness moments that make road trips such a joy.

After returning home, I took out Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, and have been listening to it all weekend. From the opening snare hit of "Like A rolling Stone" the album hits you like a blast of fresh North Woods air. Its astounding that this album, Bringing it All Back Home, and the double LP Blonde on Blonde were all released in an 18 month period.

It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry