Author kicks off UK tour in Lisburn

The 14 date tour celebrates the 40th anniversary this autumn of his ‘Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan’, the first book ever published on Dylan’s work.

This is more one-man-show than talk. Michael Gray uses great records and rare footage to show how hugely Bob Dylan has been inspired by the blues and how much of its powerful poetry has been smuggled inside his own highly influential writing.

Michael’s talks have been a sell-out in North America, the UK & Ireland at arts theatres, arts centres, colleges and festivals. He has performed at the US Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. At the University of Texas at Austin he drew the largest crowd of any external speaker in two years. In 2011 he performed at arts centres and festivals in Ireland and colleges in California, Alabama, Georgia, Connecticut & NYC, and was a keynote speaker at Dylan Conferences in Vienna and Bristol.

Michael Gray’s events are always spontaneous. “I never use notes or cue-cards,” he explained. “I aim for an entertaining, fresh account of Dylan’s achievement and a revealing exposition of blues and its poetry.”

Tickets, priced £10, are on sale now from the Island Arts Centre Box Office on 9250 9254.