Jakob Dylan Performs With Neko Case, Talks "Women & Country"

Last week, Jakob Dylan dropped by the RS offices to preview tunes from his new disc, Women & Country, a collection of country-roots ballads that address love and American life in times of economic and political uncertainty. He also came prepped with some A-list backup, bringing along singers Neko Case and Kelly Hogan to perform three tunes, including the gorgeous ballad "Nothing but the Whole Wide World" (watch it above).

For Women & Country, Dylan reunited up with producer T Bone Burnett, who produced the Wallflowers' breakthrough record Bringing Down the Horse in the mid-Nineties. While the laid-back vibe of the disc suggests Dylan was casual about the recording process, the sessions actually took place over one marathon week. "I met up with T Bone while he was finishing up work on the Crazy Heart soundtrack," says Dylan. "We were just passing around guitars and I played "Nothing" for him — it was the one [new] song I had written. He liked it enough that he said that we should go make another record. I took that as a challenge to get fifteen songs together in six weeks."

Jakob also revealed that he did spin his new record for his famous father, Bob, and that the feedback was positive. "He likes it, yeah," says Jakob. "I think everybody would like to sit here and say he thinks their record is great. But, yeah, he's very supportive." Keep reading to see two more songs — "Holy Roller for Love" and "They've Trapped Us Boys."

"Holy Rollers For Love"

"They've Trapped Us Boys"

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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