Oh, Come All Ye Faithful .... And Charlie Sexton

Bob Dylan announced yesterday that on October 13 he will release as his 47th album Christmas in the Heart. Dylan will donate all of his U.S. royalties in perpetuity to Feeding America. In the announcement on his website,

Bob Dylan commented, “It’s a tragedy that more than 35 million people in this country alone -- 12 million of those children – often go to bed hungry and wake up each morning unsure of where their next meal is coming from. I join the good people of Feeding America in the hope that our efforts can bring some food security to people in need during this holiday season.”

Songs on Christmas in the Heart are to include: “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “Must Be Santa.”

Meanwhile, Rolling Stone reports that guitarist Charlie Sexton will re-join Bob's band in Seattle when he continues touring in October. Sexton has recently been working in the Arc Angels with Doyle Bramhill II and Chris Layton. At the RS link there is a nice video clip of Sexton and Dylan performing The Rolling Stone's "Brown Sugar".

November 27, 2009:

Christmas in the Heart is out now, and you can try to figure it out for yourself.  "Must Be Santa" already has a wild video posted on Facebook.  Here is an interesting interview with Dylan about the album by Bill Flanagan in  the North American Street Newspaper Association.  Here and there, amid questions that do not really ask much and do not illicit much in return, Dylan actually reveals a thing or two about his influences in doing a Christmas album.