Some musings from a recent trip to the Show-Me State. You know, back in 2016, when things started to get dark in the world, I felt I had to lean into the best side of what America offers, and certainly the arts have to be somewhere at the top of the list, music and pioneers like Dylan, those out there mixing up the medicine, self-inventing, honoring the muse, and representing the possibilities. So as the darkness fell again in 2025, I looked at the map to see where Bob’s latest Rough and Rowdy Ways jaunt might take him and the answer was Missouri. As I recall, Bob once sang, “when I was in Missouir, they would not let me be….I only saw what they let me see.”
Anyway, I’d seen this leg a few times already, but it’s always different with Bob. Per usual, no cell phones or pics allowed, and so instead, I’ve included a shot of the college arts building housing the show, Juanita Hammons Hall in Springfield, Missouri. I had great seats, just a few rows back and because of the phone restrictions, I spent pre-show talking and engaging with the older couple sitting next to me, lifelong residents and hardcore music fans, all the way back to Ozark Mountain Daredevils, we talked about our kids, and music we liked and I plugged my brother’s documentary, “Center of Nowhere,” about the Springfield scene. They had never seen Bob before and I decided to prep them, as in, it’s going to be great, but don’t expect Blowing in the Wind, arched eyebrows included. Like don’t expect that Bob, because this Bob is in the moment.
So, while I don’t want to delve too deep into the arcane, I’d have to say “Crossing the Rubicon” and “Every Grain of Sand” were the highlights for me. I think sometimes Bob sends messages in his set list, for those in the know, and he was very impassioned during Rubicon, and if you aren’t sure why, just google the historical context. I would say we just crossed it about the time he performed it. “Every Grain” has been a set closer for a couple years and you can tell means a lot to the man, and the band. I missed multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron not being in the band, but Bob Britt, Doug Lancio, Tony Garnier, and the new drummer, Anton Fig, adjusted with aplomb. “Desolation Row” was a welcome return to the set (also thematic) and for my money, “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You” from the latest album is one of his most beautiful tunes, period, from any era. After the show, I bumped into a youngish fellow in the merch line, around 25, maybe, looking over the fake Tempest tour shirts on sale (I didn’t buy one). He said he’d seen Bob live 119 times. Way more than me.
Other snaps here are from Springfield, and KC, the next day, just hanging out and being offline, reminding me of back in the day when I was gigging a lot, killing time, stumbling upon cool bookstores or restaurants. In Kansas City, I connected with a dear friend for crate-digging at Sister Ann’s and dinner at Westside Local, one of my favorite spots in that town. It was good to catch up, it was good to listen; afterwards, she pointed out the radical lefty shop next door, which warmed the heart, as well.
First time I went to KC was to play the Thomas Hart Benton Birthday Bash with my ol’ Bucket Number Six comrades, at Kelly’s in KC, a really cool and unusual gig. So I also took a swing by the Benton house as well, and talked with the man on duty about Benton, and he asked about the exhibit at the Hall in Nashville on “Tom,” which he wanted to visit. He also talked about Dylan – doesn’t everyone – and said Tom’s daughter was an aspiring folkie who knew Joan Baez. He also told me to check out the Frank Lloyd Wright house next door, and being a big fan, I did. Not available for tours, but it a cool Usonian type design and I’d never noticed it before.
Later, I mentioned the Benton house to my ex, because when my son was a baby and we were still together, we had visited, briefly. She asked if I saw her birth father’s old house next door. The Frank Lloyd Wright house? Yes, one of his students designed it, actually, she said. I never knew, and that was wild to me. Connections.
Folks you randomly meet, and those you feel you’ve known forever, it’s all captured here and did the trick of reminding me, what is indeed good and possible in our world and our country, and how we always carry the power of definition.
Doug Hoekstra 