The Folly-Ridden Search for the Next Bob Dylan

Couldn't you see a major TV network picking up "The Next Bob Dylan" as the next reality TV craze? Neither could I, but it doesn't mean the musical world isn't constantly searching for a successor to the Great Poet. Over the years, countless musicians have inherited the flattering, yet eyebrow raising, eye roll inducing, title. Just about any songwriter that comes through the vines with the ability to spill flowery language all over the page gets the comparison at least once. Yet each time, they don't measure up. They either become something else entirely or fade into obscurity.

The great Bruce Springsteen was once dubbed the "next Bob Dylan." Springsteen is a little different than the others due in part to that fact that he was signed on to Columbia Records by John Hammond - not the guy from Jurassic Park, mind you- who was also responsible for getting Dylan off and running. But shortly after Springsteen's early career of Dylan-esque, hipster poetry, he of course went on to develop his own identity and has turned that identity into an illustrious career. Springsteen is an example that just because you fail at being "the next Bob Dylan" doesn't mean you can't have a long, successful career. You just can't be the next Bob Dylan.

Bright Eyes, or Conor Oberst as his parents like to call him, has been dubbed the next Dylan since his arrival way back in the 1990s. A few others of note include Beck and even Loudon Wainwright; Rufus's pop. Recently, The Tallest Man on Earth, or Kristian Mattson as his parents like to call him, has received the title; raspy voice, elegant lyrics, and plays guitar. Check, check, and check. Of course, Jakob Dylan, Bob's son, has the title too, but that would be a little too obvious don't you think? While these are not bad artists - I, for one, totally adore Mattson's music- I promise they all have or will fail in holding up to such an unfair, impossible task of being "the next Bob Dylan."

It's not that I don't believe there will ever be an artist as revolutionary as Dylan again, it's that we are looking in the wrong places. Bob Dylan was revolutionary because he did what no one else had ever done before. When the masses lay claim to "the next Bob Dylan" what they are inadvertently saying is "here is a guy (or girl) that does similar things to what Dylan did, and maybe this guy (or girl) will be even better." "The next Bob Dylan" is most likely going to execute something that Dylan couldn't in his wildest dreams. Of course, if I knew what that was, I'd be out doing it right now.

Brian is an active musician and songwriter. He is also a part time music blogger for Paper Trail Music and is in general, in love with music. Follow him on Twitter here, or follow his music blog here. You can also listen to his music here.

Sources
Bright Eyes Bio
Loudon Wainwright III Bio
Bruce Springsteen Bio

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