Book Launch: Blood in the Tracks

Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik will join Zenith Bookstore on Thursday, September 14 for the Duluth launch of their new book Blood in the Tracks: The Minnesota Musicians behind Dylan’s Masterpiece (University of Minnesota Press)
Blood in the Tracks tells the story of two nights in Minneapolis when six Minnesota musicians participated in a recording session with Bob Dylan as he re-recorded five songs on Blood on the Tracks, bringing their unique sound to some of Dylan’s best-known songs —only to have their names left off the album and their contribution unacknowledged for more than forty years.
“Beyond the richly detailed account of the Sound 80 sessions, Rick Shefchik and Paul Metsa have crafted a gripping pre-Internet tale of what it took (and still takes) to be a struggling musician. Dylan looms over every page, but for anyone who’s ever given themselves up to a life in music — or loved someone who did — the stories told by the Minnesota Six about gigging, practicing, recording, family life, and all the heartaches and triumphs that come along with the chase are equal parts poignant, romantic, sad, funny, and inspiring. An essential slice of Minnesota music history.” — Jim Walsh, songwriter, journalist, and author of Gold Experience: Following Prince in the ’90s
Paul Metsa is a musician and songwriter with 12 original records to his credit, as well as an autobiography, Blue Guitar Highway.. He has played more than five thousand professional gigs — including at Farm Aid V in Dallas in 1992, the Tribute to Woody Guthrie at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Million Mom March in Washington, D.C., in 1999 — and has received seven Minnesota Music Awards. His self-published Alphabet Jazz: Poetry, Prose, Stories, and Songs was released in September of 2022.
Rick Shefchik spent almost 30 years in daily journalism, mostly as a critic, reporter, and columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He is author of several books, including Everybody’s Heard about the Bird: The True Story of 1960s Rock ’n’ Roll in Minnesota.