Chicagoans who attend the Bob Dylan concert next Wednesday on Northerly Island will recognize a familiar face: local guitarist Joel Paterson, who on Tuesday joined the music legend’s band.
Paterson, 55, has been a fixture on the Chicago music scene for more than 25 years. Besides his long-time residency at the Green Mill on Monday nights with his quartet, he performs regularly throughout the city and suburbs. He has recorded and toured with the Cactus Blossoms, JD McPherson, Kelly Hogan, Pokey LaFarge and Deke Dickerson.
His appearance Tuesday in Austin, Texas, came in a tumultuous moment for Dylan who reportedly let go two guitarists the week prior. Peterson had received the invitation at least two weeks ago, said friend Casey McDonough. The Western Elstons, their long-time country and western swing band, was scheduled to play Simon’s in Andersonville tonight, but Paterson announced on the band’s text chain that he couldn’t make it because he “was going to work with someone named Bob.”
“I guessed that didn’t mean Seger or Saget,” said McDonough. “Everybody was really happy for him. Why wouldn’t you be? He’s our pal.” (Guitarist Tony Kidonakis is filling in for Paterson at Simon’s tonight.)
In taking the gig, Paterson joins a long lineage of prominent Dylan guitarists, including Robbie Robertson, Mark Knopfler, Charlie Sexton, Larry Campbell, Duke Robillard, and Chicago’s Michael Bloomfield. Chicago blues guitarist Dave Spector said Paterson’s impeccable fingerpicking skills, perfect tone and versatility as a stylist distinguish him as a guitarist.
“He definitely has his own voice in the different styles he plays. I also see him as a revivalist and a fantastic player in playing older styles of music, from blues to ragtime to rockabilly to jazz. Joel’s blues playing will definitely add a solid feel to Dylan’s stuff,” he said. (Paterson did not respond to a request for comment.)
Paterson grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and started busking on the streets while a student at the University of Wisconsin where he studied art. After moving to Chicago he worked behind the counter at the Jazz Record Mart while rotating through several bands — among them, the Wabash Jug Band, the Four Charms, Devil in the Woodpile, the Cash Box Kings. That not only established him as versatile in American musical styles, but endeared him to musicians who would become lifelong collaborators.
“He absorbs so much different music so he can be [Booker T and the MGs guitarist] Steve Cropper, but he also can be [blues great] Albert King,” said musician Mike Reed, who owns Constellation and Hungry Brains, two clubs where Paterson appears regularly. “His skillset is so vast, it’s unreal.”
Adding to that, Reed said, is Paterson’s natural ability as a showman. “He knows how to keep people engaged; sometimes it’s low key, sometimes he’ll ramp it up. That’s a rare thing these days to see someone work the room that way.”
McDonough, a long-time musical partner with Paterson, agreed: “When he zeroes in on a style or a person’s vibe, he can just have it all at the ready regardless of what song is being played or what instrument he’s playing.”
In 2001, Paterson launched Ventrella Records. Among his releases are two instrumental sets of Beatles covers, two Christmas albums and collaborations with musicians including bassist Beau Sample, drummer Alex Hall and West Coast guitarist-singer Annie Hall. Years of playing weekly in Chicago clubs have revealed a player capable of gliding through a century of music with a level of musicianship that is focused, clean and deeply expressive.
Dylan’s summer tour rolls throughout July and ends Aug. 1 in Nashville. (The band plays Huntington Bank Arena on Northerly Island Wednesday on a bill that includes Lucinda Williams and John Doe.) It is not yet known if Paterson will join Dylan in October in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. So far, Paterson is the only guitarist in the band, joining Dylan on keyboards, music director Tony Garnier on bass and Anton Fig on drums — one of the smallest bands Dylan has assembled in recent years.
Spector, also a partner at Space in Evanston, said Paterson texted him Tuesday to tell him that his Aug. 9 at the club with his organ quartet is still a go. Paterson’s swing quartet is also scheduled to play Hungry Brain Aug. 21. His Monday residency at the Green Mill remained on the club’s calendar as of this week.