The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band released a joint version of Bob Dylan’s 1964 classic, “The Times They Are A-Changin”, including Jason Isbell, Rosanne Cash, the War and the Treaty and Steve Earle.
The group of artist stars swap verses from Dylan’s immortal song for this charity single, whose revenue will benefit Feeding America.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band singer Hanna starts and ends the song on the main vocals, but each guest adds their own vocal approach to their respective verses. Isbell’s brings a country-folk accent while Cash takes an elegant ballad approach, all before Michael and Tanya Blount Trotter of the War and Treaty bring home the fourth verse of the song.
“I’ve been a fan of Bob Dylan since I was a teenager, living in California,” said Hanna. “I was lucky to see him sing ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ at the concert of the year the song was released.”
The track was recorded in New York and Nashville studios and produced by Ray Kennedy (Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell).
“It moved me deeply and it hasn’t changed,” Hanna said of the song after its release. “The lyrics are just as relevant today as they were when Dylan wrote them. Maybe even more. “