When Vampires Were in Fashion: The Wallflowers’ Jakob Dylan talks music, film, and art

By Kevin Murphy Wilson Photos Provided

This month, Jakob Dylan brings his Grammy Award-winning band The Wallflowers, best known for massive radio hits like “6th Avenue Heartache” and “One Headlight,” back to town for an intimate performance at the Mercury Ballroom on Sept. 9. In preparation for that concert, we caught up with the enigmatic son of Sara and Bob Dylan by phone to discuss his growth as a songwriter, the cryptic advice he received from his elder peers in the business, and his own lengthy career in music. 

VOICE-TRIBUNE: My 17-year-old son was recently asking me about his name. It’s Levi Jakob—with a “k.” I told him I had always been into biblical names, but that in the years before he was born, I was also listening to an American musician who spelled it that way. 

And then I sent him your playlist. All that is to say, you’re sort of my boy’s namesake. 

Jakob Dylan: “Oh, well, I think that’s pretty cool. Huh. 

Yeah, with the ‘k,’ too. As I understand it, I think that’s German. You know, I think it was kind of arbitrary why I was given that ‘k,’ but that’s as far as I know.” 

VT: One of my longest-running roles has been in the President’s Office at Kentucky College of Art + Design here in Old Louisville, so I can’t help but be curious about your brief stint at Parsons School of Design [part of The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City]. What drew you to art college in the first place, and is visual art something you continue to dabble with alongside your music? And what is the overlap between those two creative spaces? 

JD: “I think they’re very similar. And I do still do that [create visual art]. You know, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with that time around [the age of ] 18. 

Both music and art appealed to me, like, I think to most people. But, you know, it took me going to Parsons for a short stint to realize that— more than I enjoyed that—I was missing playing guitar and being in a band. So, I had to kind of execute it. I had to eliminate that from, I guess, my future as far as being professional. I enjoyed it. But it took that experience for me to realize that I needed to be in a band.” 

VT: There are plenty of clues as to your influences in the Wallflowers’ choice of covers and the tribute albums you’ve been a part of on your own over the years. But I wanted to specifically ask you about the “Echo in the Canyon” film and recording project [that explores a magical moment in music history—the Laurel Canyon scene of the mid-1960s]. What was it that you were looking for while making that documentary? 

JD: “It started out as a duets record, really. We were just going to explore those songs, some of the less obvious ones. Then it evolved into a movie, I wouldn’t say accidentally, but it just kind of went there. And, for whatever reason, they [Dylan’s interview subjects such as David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, etc.] were all willing to be a part of it. 

I think, for me because I wasn’t a journalist. No offense to yourself, of course. But I think that part of the appeal for some of the older generation was that I’m also a songwriter and my curiosity was genuine, and I had no agenda other than giving them a chance to maybe say some things about those days that they hadn’t had a chance to say. Maybe someone hadn’t asked certain things before because maybe they weren’t artists themselves. And I think as you get further down the road, I think maybe it appeals to you, maybe, to be a little more honest. It took quite a while to gather it all together, but I’m very grateful that there wasn’t anybody who I reached out to that wasn’t willing to come and sit with us.” 

VT: The Breach record turns 25 this year, which is crazy to me. I’d bought the first two Wallflowers LPs on compact disc [1992’s self-titled debut and 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse], and I definitely liked the sound. But it wasn’t until Breach dropped that I started paying attention to your songwriting, and it was abundantly clear by that time that you weren’t fucking around. Was there a point at which you yourself realized that you had really turned the corner as a craftsman? 

JD: “Well, I’m still trying to turn the corner. Before I called you just now, I was working on new songs. It continues to unfold. I mean, you’re always surprised by what comes out of it. The most recent song you wrote, you inevitably think is the last song you’re ever gonna [sic] get. I agree that there is a big difference between Bringing Down the Horse and Breach. But I can’t tell you what changed.” 

VT: A few years have already passed since the Exit Wounds album arrived, but I am still floored by the sentiment, “I’ll let you down, but I will not give up on you.” Can you unpack that a little? 

JD: “Oh, I think you actually meant, ‘I’ll let you down, but I will not give you up,’ but what you said is pretty good, too. Whenever you ask songwriters what their songs are about, they’re usually lying. Because if they’re being honest, they’ll just tell you they write them and then they reflect on it later. You know, a lot of songs you write you don’t know why.” 

VT: What was the best piece of advice you ever got from older peers, like, say, Elvis Costello, Levon Helm, Tom Petty or, I don’t know, fill in the blank? 

JD: “I got so much. But a lot of those older cats were always speaking in code. So, you’ll suddenly remember something they might have said eight years ago, and you’ll think…ohhh, I get it now. Most advice I got was really on how to keep going.” 

The Wallflowers play the Mercury Ballroom in Louisville on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

For more information, mercuryballroom.com.