Bob Dylan‘s touring band has become the new reality show for music nerds, as the Pulitzer Prize-winning singer-songwriter continues to shake up his lineup. This week in Texas, Dylan introduced the relatively unknown Chicago blues guitarist Joel Paterson to his band following Bob Britt‘s abrupt exit and a brief guest spot by Julian Lage.
The saga began in mid-June when Dylan quietly added renowned jazz guitarist Julian Lage to his band, in place of electric guitarist Doug Lancio, who had toured with Dylan since 2021. Less than two weeks later, acoustic guitarist Bob Britt—a veteran of Dylan’s band since 2019—announced he had quit the group via Facebook, writing “Sayonara Bobby” before clarifying, “I quit”. At the same time, Lage had a conflicting solo show in Brooklyn when Dylan was playing in Austin. In the days leading up to Dylan’s show on Monday at Austin’s Moody Amphitheater, nobody knew who would step out onstage with arguably the greatest songwriter of the past century.
Then, when the band finally came out on Monday, many still didn’t know who was walking out onstage with Dylan. It took Dylanhead sleuths about 15 minutes to crack the guitarist’s identity (fortunately, fans’ phones weren’t locked in Yondr pouches, as is customary at many Bob Dylan shows). Paterson has been a fixture of the Chicago blues scene for more than 25 years, and missed his regular Monday night residency at the 150-capacity Green Mill Cocktail Lounge to play with Dylan that night. His resume includes work with Pokey LaFarge, JD McPherson, and The Cactus Blossoms, playing pedal steel guitar on the latter’s 2022 Bob Dylan tribute EP. Paterson had another gig scheduled for tonight, July 1st, but told his bandmates he couldn’t make it because he “was going to work with someone named Bob.”
“I guessed that didn’t mean Seger or Saget,” his friend Casey McDonough told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Bob Dylan: “Watching The River Flow,” “Every Grain Of Sand” | Austin, TX | 6/29/26
Credit: neverending Bobfan
Dylan singing It Ain’t Me Babe June 30 Texas
by
u/StringFood in
bobdylan
Given the tumultuous past couple weeks, few can say for certain how long Paterson will play with Dylan. It’s been 35 years since Dylan toured with just one guitarist, and judging by Britt’s follow-up posts on social media, he’s not planning on coming back.
“Apparently there are quite a few threads out there with people speculating about my departure from the Bob tour,” he wrote on Facebook. “I’d like to clear it up. I was not fired but left of my own accord for reasons I would prefer to keep private. I will miss my band mates and crew.”
In a separate post, Britt’s wife, Etta, confirmed the split was “not because of Julian [Lage].” Of Lage, Etta also wrote, “word is he’s coming back” to play with Dylan, something Rolling Stone also reported will happen once Julian’s schedule allows. Lage has shows July 4th in Kansas City and July 11th in Rotterdam, Netherlands, but beyond that, appears available to play the bulk of Dylan’s U.S. tour, set to run through August 1st.
Stay tuned for another exciting episode of the Bob Dylan Long Hot Summer Tour on Thursday in Thackerville, OK. Find tickets and tour dates here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music may earn a commission from tickets purchased via the links on this page.]