PRINTDyer-inspired
Concert honors local singer
Don Shorock
Bob Dyer played an unusual role in the making of his own tribute album by choosing the artists who would perform on it before his death in April 2007.
June 5, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Famous folkie Bob Dyer was a man of many names. A self-described song-teller, the Boonville native also donned descriptions such as poet, musician, historian and artist. With his wide-ranging interests and thirst for knowledge, acquaintances knew him as a grand conversationalist. To Dave Para and Cathy Barton, Dyer’s long-time friends and fellow musicians, he was the singing shaman of their metaphoric musical tribe. But perhaps the title of which he was most proud came from Amber Moonie-Dyer, who called him Dad. “When I was little, I just remember tons of music always being around,” Moonie-Dyer explains. “Circles of musicians would sit around and play each other’s songs while I would dance in the middle with the other kids. It was just a really happy time.”
Despite Dyer’s death in April 2007, his music plays on. To celebrate the release of Dyer’s tribute album, The Wandering Fool: Songs by Bob Dyer Sung in Tribute by his Friends, his friends and family have organized a CD release concert. The show is being held Saturday at Thespian Hall and features many of the musicians who performed on the album, including Leela Grace, Dave Para and Cathy Barton, and David Lynn Grimes.
What: Bob Dyer Tribute
When: Sat., June 7, 7 p.m.
Where: Thespian Hall, 522 Main St., Boonville
Call: (660) 882-5523
Cost: $10
“There is a lot of emotion attached to putting together a tribute to somebody who has been such a big influence in your life,” says Para, the album’s producer. Para worked with his wife, Barton, to put together the concert.
“(The album) was a way for us to deal with our grieving process in a positive way,” Barton says.
Barton and Para began planning The Wandering Fool prior to Dyer’s passing, allowing the wandering fool himself to take part in its production. “Bob actually had a hand in selecting the artists he wanted to perform on the album,” Barton says. “He made a list and paired the artists with the songs that he wanted them to sing.”
The album consists purely of Dyer’s songs, yet it does not lack in stylistic diversity. “The album has so many different interpretations of his songs, ranging from rock to bossa nova to folk,” Barton says. “That would have been right up Bob’s alley. He always wanted people to have a lot of freedom interpreting his songs.”
Although Dyer will not physically attend his tribute album release party, his friends, family and fans suspect the Boonville icon will show up in spirit. As Joe Newberry, the lead vocalist and banjo player on The Wandering Fool’s “When the Rains Come Down,” writes, “Perhaps Bob will hear our tribute and do a little jig dance to it down beside his stream of time.”
