I Heart Bobby D. and Ironworld

In spite of all the recent hullabaloo over Ironworld, I’m going to tell you about the great time I had at the Bob Dylan exhibit—“Tangled Up in Ore.” And I wasn’t the only one there, either. FYI—there were many—yes, many—people checking out the exhibit when I was there.

When city folk ask me where I’m from and I say, “Have you heard of the Iron Range?”  They say, “Nope.”

“Have you heard of Hibbing?” I ask.

“Um…I think so…” they reply, still with a look of confusion. (They are trying to be nice.)

“Have you heard of Bob Dylan? He’s from Hibbing.” Bam! The light goes off and finally, we connect.

Just about everyone has heard of Bob Dylan. As a child, I remember the first Dylan song I ever heard was “Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35” and always thought, “What does this title have to do with getting stoned?” As I grew older, I learned to appreciate his writing and lyrics and began to understand his humor. I find him eccentric, mysterious and one of those people who you know is very strange, but really, he’s some kind of genius. I generally prefer Dylan done by other artists. I’ve always been engaged with his poetic lyrics but that voice…well…I’ll be honest; I have a low tolerance. One of my favorite songs EVER is Tangled Up in Blue—performed by the Indigo Girls. They take the story and give it some attitude, some sass and turn the words into a dynamic and energetic, lively piece of music. My best friend would disagree, as her heart belongs to Bob. After visiting “Tangled Up in Ore,” I not only gained insight and appreciation for Bobby D., but his writings and memories of the Iron Range inspired me. Once again, I felt proud to be a “Ranger.”

Entering the exhibit, Bob’s voice and song welcomed me. The hallway’s walls were lined with posters announcing Dylan playing here, there and everywhere. As I started to make my way through the exhibit, there were Bob’s words against a big red background along with photos, artifacts, memorabilia and more. Up until this moment, I really didn’t know how much Bob wrote about the Iron Range. After hearing about the tales of his travels—how he lied and said he was from anywhere but Hibbing, Minnesota—I had the opinion Bob wasn’t proud to be from Hibbing. That’s not what I felt as I read excerpts from, “The Chronicles” and “My Life in a Stolen Moment.” I’m not an expert, but I didn’t get the feeling he hated Hibbing. Maybe he just hated some of the negative experiences he had growing up. Maybe the “Hibbing” life just wasn’t his thing and being who he was, he found happiness elsewhere. My point is, it really doesn’t matter how Dylan feels about Hibbing. He became the voice of a generation unintentionally because of his writing and music. Dylan wouldn’t be who he was or is if he wasn’t from the Iron Range and it’s this fact that makes him remarkable. Bob Dylan is a huge part of Iron Range history and culture; coming from this little rural area, he became a music legend—an icon—and that will continue to be celebrated.

I thought Ironworld did an excellent job creating the exhibit. It was dynamic, educational and exciting and there was something for everyone. Local works of art—sculptures, paintings, photographs, drawings, writing—created by children and adults really enhanced the experience. People have the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings about Dylan. Toward the end of the exhibit, there was also a bulletin board featuring on-the-spot artwork visitors created with provided materials. Check out my “blue” portrait of Dylan. Also, the Community Gallery features even more Dylan interpretations including essays, photos, paintings and more.

From now through August 2, tune in on Saturday afternoons as local artists share their musical talents with Iron Range Originals Unplugged, in the museum’s restaurant, The 43. This Saturday, July 19, Bittersweet will play songs from their new CD release “Mary & Jay …Do Bob.” I was fortunate to talk with Jay Hoiland about their new release.

“Never before has a local Iron Range Band cut a CD dedicated to Bob Dylan. And we thought, ‘Hey. It’s about time.’” Hoiland explains. Hoiland produced engineered, mixed and mastered this production for Blue Wolf Records, a local recording studio. Both Mary Jo Gizzard and Jay Hoiland have been playing their music for years. Gizzard (pronounced Giz-ard) traveled the United States and Canada as a professional musician and returned to the area a few years ago. Since then, she and Hoiland formed Bittersweet and play their music often at local venues.

“This isn’t a Bob Dylan sound alike CD.” We add a new twist and our own interpretation to Dylan’s songs. Our whole idea was to bring the music up-to-date. We wanted to achieve a modern sound that you’d hear on the radio today. I think we accomplished that.” says Hoiland. Click here to listen to a couple samples of their CD. If you’d like to order a copy (which I recommend; I’ve been listening to it for two weeks straight in my car) you can purchase the CD online or email jayhoiland@hotmail.com.

Love him or hate him, I would recommend taking the time to visit Ironworld and experiencing “Tangled Up in Ore.” It’s not just about his music; it’s about part of our history. It’s about reflecting on a part of time that shaped Hibbing and the Iron Range.  It’s about a guy named Robert Zimmerman who came from a small town in northern Minnesota and became known to the whole world. And I think that’s something awesome.

Which brings me to one more little point: I think it’s interesting how Mr. KSTP reporter would like people to think Ironworld is this idle building sucking up tax money. Well, in my life I’ve been to several museums in urban areas like Minneapolis, Chicago and Boston. NEVER have I seen a museum crawling with people and their parking lots full. And I think it would be interesting to take the “average of 42 visitors” number and compare it to the average number of visitors for a Minneapolis museum but taking into consideration the population. I’m confident that we’d be looking at around the same average. Because a museum is not about MONEY, people. Ironworld is there to preserve WHO WE ARE and WHERE WE CAME FROM as IRON RANGERS. We are small towns. Our main industry is mining Iron Ore. It’s where many of our parents, their parents and their parents’ parents spent their lives. It’s about our ethnicity and our ancestry. And the money it takes to operate Ironworld is OUR MONEY. It’s the IRON RANGE’S money and the Iron Range wants to have a place to celebrate and preserve our history. We want to be reminded of how we came to be and how we’re still here after all the hard times our region has faced over the years. So, KSTP, you can say whatever you want. You can bad mouth the facility all you want. WE DON’T CARE. It’s ours and we’re keeping it and there’s nothing you can do about it!