By JASON KLOSE

Sun-Gazette Correspondent

LOCK HAVEN — Williamsport area singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Doug McMinn, who has had a long and colorful career as both leader and sideman, playing with dozens of bands in the Central PA, will perform Bob Dylan’s Birthday Tribute Show 8 p.m. May 20 at the Broken Axe Brew House, 1 E. Bald Eagle St.

Joining McMinn at the Broken Axe will be Chris Carithers, who’s been performing Dylan birthday shows with him for two years. In addition to the Lock Haven show, McMinn will do a solo Dylan birthday show at Turkey Hill Brewing Co. outside Bloomsburg from 7-9 p.m. on Sunday and another solo show at Old Forge Brewing Co. in Danville from 7-9 p.m. tonight. McMinn and Carithers also are working on a possible date at Franco’s Lounge in Williamsport, possibly on Dylan’s actual birthday, which is May 24.

A regional artist named Jamie Notarthomas used to perform at the Bullfrog regularly, and one of his seasonal offerings was a Bob Dylan birthday show.

It occurred to McMinn a few years back that this was a worthy idea, so he approached Fred Daniele of Franco’s, perhaps the biggest Dylan fan in the area.

“I don’t recall how the Carithers connection came about, but he does a lot of Dylan songs in his solo presentation, so we banded together,” McMinn said. “We do some songs solo and some songs as a duo, which makes for a nice evening. And with Dylan’s acceptance of the Nobel Prize for Literature this year, it made sense to me to expand the possible venues.”

Bob Dylan rewrote the rules for rock and roll, setting the standard for performers to write their own music. Before Dylan, popular performers were vocalists whose management supplied them with songs written by Tin Pan Alley. Dylan also changed the attention span of radio. When “Like A Rolling Stone” was released in 1965, radio stations were reluctant to play a six minute long single. However, once people heard the evocative song, it became a huge hit.

“In that way, Bob Dylan’s writing also expanded the palette for imagery in a pop song,” Carithers said. “Dylan’s impressionistic lyrics established rock and roll as a vehicle for imagination — jugglers, clowns, a princess on the steeple and a diplomat on a chrome horse!”

McMinn first heard Dylan’s songs as a child, mostly through Peter, Paul, and Mary’s and The Byrds’ cover versions. But he remembers very well the first time he heard “Like A Rolling Stone” on the radio in 1965, when he was 11 years old.

“At such a young age, I can’t claim to have understood the nuances of the music, but his role in my life grew through the years,” he said. “I find that some which baffled me as a teen have become very meaningful as the years pass.”

Bob Dylan was Carithers’ first real concert as a teenager — in fact, Dylan and Santana in September 1993.

“Our car broke down on the way and my best friend and I talked the tow truck driver into a ride to Montage Mountain just in time to catch the show,” he said. “Dylan played one of my future favorites that day, ‘Every Grain of Sand.’ “

Not only has Dylan been an influence on Carithers, but he has influenced several groundbreaking bands, like The Grateful Dead, The Beatles and The Boss. Many of Dylan’s songs became smash hits for other artists, such as “All Along the Watchtower” for Jimi Hendrix, “Mr. Tambourine Man” for The Byrds, “Quinn The Eskimo” for Manfred Mann and “To Make You Feel My Love” for Adele.

“Most people don’t realize that Bob Dylan wrote the chorus for ‘Wagon Wheel,’ the tune that earned Old Crow Medicine Show their place in modern bluegrass and became a pop country single for Darius Rucker,” Carithers said.

McMinn has jammed on stage with blues luminaries ranging from Saffire — The Uppity Blues Women and E.G. Kight to Lonnie Shields and Big Jack Johnson. He has been featured on several CDs, including the AAA Blues Band’s “High Water” and “Grasshopper” by Williamsport’s Lumpy Gravy. Over the years, he has amassed a thick songbook of compositions of his own as well.

McMinn has seen Dylan seven times, most recently last summer on his tour with Mavis Staples, which featured mostly Tin Pan Alley standards.

“The very best might have been his Williamsport appearance at the old Capital Theatre, just before it was renovated into the Community Art Center,” he said. “His lyrics set the standard for rock, and his best records live on in my listening habits and my memory.”

Carithers is excited to pull out some personal favorite Dylan tunes from his lesser known albums, like “The Basement Tapes,” as well as a few finger-picked ballads better suited to a listening audience, such as “Moonshiner” and “Girl from the North Country.”

“I’m also excited for the Dylan tunes that Doug and I do together as a duo,” he said. “It’s always fun to play with a multi-instrumentalist like Doug McMinn, who juggles vocals, clarinet, acoustic slide guitar and electric guitar like a master.”

“I know a group of hard-core Dylanites who will be at the Broken Axe, and I’m sure some Dylan folks will gather at the other venues,” McMinn said. “Doing justice to this immortal music would be nice as well!”