E353 - Wesley Stace aka John Wesley Harding - Top 5 Bob Dylan Covers

With over 1,500 covers of 350+ compositions by over 600 artists, Bob Dylanis is clearly one of the most frequently covered songwriters in music history. His material has been covered at some point by a wide range of rock, pop, folk, soul, blues, country, and jazz artists. For a folkie from Minnesota inspired by songs learned from Woody Guthrie to a rock legend, he has built a songbook that will surely be passed down as long as there are voices to sing and ears to listen.

Appropriately enough, our Third Lad is a prolific singer / songwriter who cribbed the stage name that he’s used throughout his career from one of Dylan’s iconic records. Since the late ‘80s, British born and raised Wesley Stace and his alter ego John Wesley Harding has strung together a remarkable and varied catalogue, from early records like 1989’s Here Comes The Groom and 1991’s The Name Above The Title that grabbed the attention of alternative radio and MTV to recent critical favorites like the Americana of 2017’s Wesley Stace’s John Wesley Harding and the elegance of 2021’s Late Style. His brand new album on Pravda Records, One Last Heist, is an organic, slinky, groovy affair - one that will surely thrill long time fans of Wesley’s clever narratives and exquisite songcraft, yet doesn’t quite sound like anything he’s ever done before. As if he wasn’t already a renaissance man, he’s also penned four novels and since 2009 has curated the recurring live variety show Wesley Stace’s Cabinet of Wonders at New York’s City Winery, featuring a few dropping assortment of his creative friends from the worlds of music, literature, and comedy.

Special thanks to Howard Wuelfing for his introduction and coordination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices