Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Shillong the Indian Town Obsessed With Bob Dylan

And a slightly less doomy-and-gloomy piece than the post immediately below.
From the Independent:
In the little visited state of Meghalaya lies India’s self-styled rock music capital. Charukesi Ramadurai visits Shillong, where Bob Dylan is worshipped above all others

Bob Dylan is on my mind this balmy winter afternoon in Shillong – just as I’m sure he is on a million other minds all over the world. It’s just over a month since the big news about Dylan’s controversial win of the Nobel Prize for Literature, but that’s not the reason I am thinking of the man behind “Mr Tambourine Man”.

Shillong, the capital city of the scenic northeast Indian state of Meghalaya, thrives on music. The town has earned itself the moniker of India’s rock music capital – even if cynics say the title is self-anointed – thanks to its various music festivals and local bands like Soulmate, which have now made a name for themselves across the country.

But it’s not all about rock – more than anything, Shillong loves Bob Dylan. Dylan has never visited – in fact, he’s never performed in India and is thought to have visited only once, for a wedding – but the people of Shillong don’t care. For several decades now, the city has hosted an informal celebratory concert every year on his birthday: 24 May.

What began as a small meeting of friends to celebrate an idol’s birthday has now turned into a major event in the regional music calendar. And although there are no celebs on offer, musicians and fans from all over India now trudge into Shillong for this. The annual tradition was started in 1972 by local celebrity Lou Majaw – known as the grand old musician of Shillong, and homegrown Dylan fan – some say fanatic. But there is no doubt that he is good at what he does.

This 70-going-on-17-year-old musician regularly performs Dylan’s songs at some of the most popular pubs and cafés in town. Majaw does have other music to his credit, including his own songs, but it is the Dylan impressions that have won him acclaim – and these days he mostly sticks to them. He’s so famous in Shillong that he’s even had a documentary made about him almost a decade ago....MUCH MORE
Here's the vid: 
Forever Young (Documentary - 59 mins)