Ray Padgett : Flaggin Down The Double E : Tribute Concert compatriots Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley interviewed

Bonus Tracks: Lee Ranaldo & Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth Talk 'Going Electric' in Tulsa

"People talk about, 'Oh, he's not a good singer.' He's an AMAZING singer."

RAY PADGETT AUG 11 ∙

I interviewed 15 different musician for Behind the Scenes of the Bob Dylan Center's 'Going Electric' Concert, and only had room to use a few sentences from each in that big feature. But there was so much more! So, today, as promised, the first subscriber-only Bonus Tracks: Extended versions of my conversations with the musicians who were performed at the all-star Tulsa tribute concert.

First up, two members of the show’s house band The Million Dollar Bashers: music director/guitarist Lee Ranaldo and drummer Steve Shelley. They’ve played together before in fact, in a little band called Sonic Youth. And they were also both in the original Million Dollar Bashers, the band that backed Eddie Vedder, Karen O, and others on the I’m Not There soundtrack. (You might have heard of their bass player then: Tony Garnier.)

All these were just casual hangs backstage at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. Much looser than my usual deep dive interviews. I didn’t have lists of questions or anything, I was just winging it, and conversations were often interrupted by other musicians wanting to discuss arrangements or just shoot the breeze.

Here’s me chatting with Lee and Steve about the show and about all things Bob. I’ll share more of these soon.

read on here . . . . . (you may have to pay so be warned . . . .or subscribe!)