In this episode of Reading Is Funktamental, we discuss Bob Dylan's New York, a guidebook and history of New York's key role throughout Dylan's lengthy career. It places Dylan's early career within the storied history of Greenwich Village, a hotbed of artistic innovation. 

A contemporary of Dylan's, musician/author/educator Dick Weissman walked the same streets, played music in the same venues, and witnessed the growth of the folk music revival from before Dylan became popular to after the height of his impact on the music scene. In this episode, Weissman discusses ten easy-to-follow walking maps and historic photographs, allowing the reader to retrace Dylan's footsteps and experience both Dylan's New York and contemporary New York. It also goes beyond the Village to include the many areas of the city where Dylan lived and worked, as well as the storied time he spent in Woodstock. Combining cultural history with personal history and anecdotes, Bob Dylan's New York illuminates the life and times of this seminal artist. For more, see my print review of the book here: https://nysmusic.com/2025/09/10/bob-dylans-new-york-city-profiled-in-new-book/  

"Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. Occasionally, the host is joined by notable musicians who have written about their careers. Recent guests have included eccentric British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, Traffic co-founder Dave Mason, and Moon Zappa. Expect a great conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it.

Sal Cataldi is a musician and writer based in Saugerties. He is best known for his work with his genre-leaping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, and is also a member of the ambient guitar duo, Guitars A Go Go, the poetry and music duo, Vapor Vespers, the jazz ensemble Hari Karaoke Trio of Doom and the quartet, Spaceheater. His writing on music, books and film has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, PopMatters, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, Inside+Out Upstate NY, and NYSMusic.com, where he is the book reviewer.