Bob Dylan photo by Vince Bucci/Invision/AP
With his Never Ending Tour temporarily grounded and his compelling new album "Rough and Rowdy Ways" in stores, Bob Dylan is resurrecting his "Theme Time Radio Hour" on SiriusXM.
On Monday, he will broadcast a new episode in the series in which he delivered 100 shows from 2006-09. Each featured a theme – baseball, weather, presidents, etc. – with songs and commentary about the particular topic.
The new episode is about whiskey, inspired by the bard's own brand, Heaven's Door, which he introduced in 2018.
Instead of the usual hourlong program, Dylan delivers a double shot – two hours – of songs, poems, recipes and chatter about whiskey.
There are boozey tunes sung by Van Morrison, George Jones, Thin Lizzy, Tom Waits, the Stanley Brothers and Julie London, by old blues figures including Byllye Williams and Wynonie Harris, and, of course, by Frank Sinatra.
Allison Janney calls into Dylan's program. And Sarah Silverman and Penn Jillette offer station IDs.
Like a veteran DJ, Dylan riffs extensively, offering history of songs, corny jokes and tidbits about whiskey and hangovers. He even introduces an unfamiliar word – sprechstimme, which means half-sung, half-spoken. "I use that [approach] sometimes myself," he says.
