anxiously awaiting the next track. And even though there are no lyrics, my mind quickly had visions of what
he was saying. On “The Fate of Comets”, not only can you hear Dylan’s homage to STEVE HOWE of YES, but
you can see the comet approaching from a distance, hanging in the air for a few seconds and then fading
away.
Even when I have written lyrics,” Dylan continued, “I was far more concerned with the sound and phrasing
rather than the actual meaning of the words. I’m really not very good at it. I listen to a lot of vocal music and
am certainly very influenced by vocalists and phrasing. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the art of
writing a great lyric, but music has always been the language I’m more comfortable with.”
Without lyrics, I wondered how he comes up with the song title.
“Ninety-five percent of the time, I write the music and then come up with the title. On “The Rollercoaster”,
the title was obvious, because that’s what the song feels like. Each of my songs has a purpose. I wrote “Kelly”
for my wife and played it for her on our wedding day. She had never heard it before. I had to practice when
she wasn’t around. When she took a shower, I practiced the song.”
When I have played Dylan’s CD, I have yet to see someone not tap their leg or table top as if they knew what
the next chord was going to be. It’s great to see them surprised. As one follower said of Dylan’s video of him
playing “Mulberry Street” at the 2012 Canadian Fingerstyle Competition, “This is quite honestly the most
beautiful song I’ve ever heard.” Dylan took home first place.
“My head is like a radio station. I’m constantly drumming on the dashboard. My wife is always telling me to
pay attention. Some of the ideas I forget, some I record on my phone. Often I sit down and write a song
because that’s what I’ve decided to do. I like the challenge of finding it. I don’t always wait for inspiration.”
“Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar” isn’t like some other CD’s where the songs run into each other, making it
difficult to tell where one ends and another begins.
“Each of these songs grew up on their own,” Dylan explains. “This CD is really a collection of songs, rather
than a conceptualized album.”
Still I needed to know how he makes each song distinctive.
“Tuning is one way; but that’s a bit of hit and miss. When I realize I need a different kind of sound or if a note
is too hard to get to, I mess with the tuning. In the process, I may gain something, but I may lose something
too, so it’s a balancing act. No songs on this CD are in standard tuning, which made it fun for me.”
And then there are Dylan’s fingernails. Easily a third of the comments on his videos and website are
regarding the length of his fingernails, particularly his thumb, which is his “snare drum” on many of his songs
as he taps low E in perfect time.
“Yeah I know,” he laughs. “I just came from the salon where I had four of my fingers done.”
“What if one breaks?” I ask.