Book Nook - Country Bob: Dylan and Country Music

Country music historian Dr. Don Cusic will release Country Bob: Dylan and Country Music (University Press of Mississippi) on October 15, 2026. It is the first book to examine how country music shaped Bob Dylan’s songwriting, performance style, and musical evolution across more than six decades. To celebrate the release, On Saturday November 7, at 11 AM, Cusic will appear at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville for a Q&A on the book, Dylan, country music, and Dylan’s lasting ties to Music City.

Bob Dylan turned 85 this year and is still touring, yet the story of how deeply Nashville and classic country music shaped him has gone largely untold. Dylan famously recorded three landmark albums in Nashville; Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, and Nashville Skyline. In Country Bob, Cusic explores why Dylan kept coming back, and how country music influenced his songwriting, his creative choices, and his sound for six decades.

From his earliest years, Dylan was drawn to the country sounds he heard on the radio and on records; he has said Hank Williams was his first musical hero. Cusic traces that connection from Dylan’s childhood through his Greenwich Village folk years, his Nashville recording sessions and into his later work. To this day, Dylan continues to draw from the well of country music, learning new songs and working them into his live sets and recordings.

Filmmaker Ken Burns, who tapped Cusic as a consultant on his acclaimed PBS Country Music documentary film, praised the book: “No one understands the intersection of country music and culture better than Don Cusic, and here he takes us on a fascinating journey linking this iteration of our roots music with the greatest of all American songwriters.” — Ken Burns, filmmaker

Q&A at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum Cusic will sit down with host Pam Lewis for a Q&A about Country Bob, Bob Dylan, country music, and the Nashville connection, sharing stories from Dylan’s Nashville years. Copies of the book will be available. What: Country Bob: Dylan and Country Music Q&A with Dr. Don Cusic When: Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 11:00 AM Where: Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, 401 Gay Street, Nashville, TN 37219 Admission: Free

About Don Cusic Dr. Don Cusic is a Belmont University professor, leading country music historian, author and consultant on Ken Burns’ Country Music. His books include 2025 releases, Chet Atkins: Mr. Guitar and HOWDY! The Minnie Pearl Story, co-written with Mary Ellen Pethel, the latter of which won the "2025 Tennessee History Book Award." He joined the Western Music Hall of Fame in 2022.