Dylan to get a cool twist at Flying Monkey

PLYMOUTH — The Flying Monkey Performance Center will welcome Joan Osborne’s Dylanology feat on Friday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m.

Special guests will be Anders Osborne and Robert Randolph.

“I try not to do a straight-up imitation of what someone else has done,” Osborne said. “Like if you’re going to sing an Otis Redding song, you’re never going to out-Otis him, so you shouldn’t even try. So I always try to find some unique way into the song, and also to pick songs where the intersection between the song and my voice hits some kind of sweet spot. It is a joy being able to sing these brilliant lyrics. It’s like an actor being given a great part. You are just so excited to say these lines because they’re so powerful that it lifts you up above yourself.”

Dylanology also features New Orleans roots rocker Anders Osborne on guitar and vocals, as well as Robert Randolph on his famously soulful pedal steel.

“Everyone knows Joan’s take on Dylan is superb,” said Seth McNally of the Flying Monkey, adding that Anders and Robert will put a hip edge to the songs. "It’s just a really cool show. It’s going to be over the top."

With performances honed by the time Osborne spent polishing them for “Joan Osborne Sings The Songs Of Bob Dylan” — two critically acclaimed two-week residencies she performed at New York City’s Café Carlyle in March 2016 and 2017 — the seven-time Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling singer and songwriter provides a soulful voice around Dylan’s poetic, evocative lyrics.

In 2017, Osborne released “Songs of Bob Dylan.” The album spans Dylan’s standards from the '60s and ’70s (“Masters of War,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” “Buckets of Rain,” “Tangled Up In Blue”) to some of Osborne’s favorites from his later albums, including “Dark Eyes” (from 1985’s Empire Burlesque), “Ring Them Bells” (from 1989’s Oh Mercy), “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven” (from 1997’s Time Out of Mind), and “High Water” (from 2001’s Love and Theft).

Osborne said, “I’m just trying to sing beautiful songs and let people hear them. It’s about trying to give a different shade of meaning to something that’s already great.”

For tickets and information, call the box office at 603-536-2551 or go online to www.flyingmonkeyNH.com.