In case you haven’t already seen it, there is a series in progress over at the Open Salon site about Bob Dylan and the musicians who influenced him. Three posts so far, all thought-provoking for anyone interested in early folk music and blues. The author plans to take this through ten posts in all over a period of several months. If you start with the introductory post it contains links to the others.

The White House hosted two special events Tuesday in honor of Black History Month: a high school workshop in the afternoon and a concert Tuesday evening. Both featured performances by noted folklorist and musician Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. Concert artists included, among others, Yolanda Adams, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Smokey Robinson, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. An article in The Root has a thoughtful analysis of Dylan’s role in the civil rights movement.

PBS will broadcast the concert at 8:00 p.m. EST Wednesday, February 11. Beginning Thursday, February 12, the performance will be available online.

Well, I have to tell you, the latest web buzz (as far as folk music goes) is all about Bob Dylan’s Christmas album. First Rolling Stone reported late yesterday afternoon that sound clips were available on Amazon.uk. Then last night, people realized that the clips weren’t there any more. (I was looking for them myself with no luck while I was waiting for the AMA awards to be announced.) Then New York Magazine reported this afternoon that someone had uploaded all the clips to YouTube in the meantime. NYM has the clips embedded in their site also.

I’m seeing mixed reviews and I’m not going to attempt to judge this album based on these samples. So if you want an idea of what Christmas in the Heart is going to sound like I’d suggest you move quickly to one of the sources mentioned above. Feel free to comment here. I’ll be interested to see what you think! Or you may want to reserve judgment for the CD’s release on October 13. Proceeds benefit Feeding America in the U.S. and other charities internationally.

Newsweek is offering Bob Dylan fans a free listen to one of the songs on his new album, Together Through Life. The magazine will also be carrying Dylan’s ongoing conversations with music author and VH1 exec Bill Flanagan. The album streets April 28. More details in this article.

Colombia Records will release a new Dylan album on August 30th. The two CD set will include many rare and unheard tracks.