From the bars to the arenas, how did our biggest music legends make the leap? Join us as we take a deep dive into music history to explore the stories surrounding the fascinating journey and sometimes little-known facts of rock music’s biggest legends.

In each episode of Garage To Stadiums, host Dave Anthony teams up with an author of a rock biography or director of a rock documentary to explore that journey, their early years, the stories behind the scenes, their top songs, and their place in music history.

Learn about the passion, talent, luck and even scandal that often came together to propel these stars from obscurity to household names.

In this episode, you'll step into the early 1960s to see how a young Bob Dylan appeared out of nowhere to shape modern rock music. You'll follow him through the decades to hear Dylan's incredible influence on all music through his influence on superstars like The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and more. Join host Dave Anthony and our guest, Harold Lepidus, author of Friends and Other Strangers: Bob Dylan Examined, and learn:

• How Bob grew up in a Jewish family in Minnesota and changed his name
• The very strange obsession that brought him to New York in the early '60s
• How the women in his life greatly influenced his lyric writing
• Why audiences booing him was the mark of a key turning point in modern rock n roll
• How a near-tragic motorcycle accident actually may have saved his life
• About his unknown backup band becoming a superstar band on their own without Bob
• His legacy and influence on all music that has come along since his debut

Bob Dylan is widely considered to be the inspiration for how rock music transformed itself from joyful ditties like Twist and Shout to deep and meaningful lyrics that communicated the challenges and dichotomies of life. To understand the evolution of music, it is key to understand Dylan's key role in its transformation.

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Bonus Content:

1. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums Bob Dylan playlist on Apple Music or Spotify
2. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content on Bob Dylan, including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.

Go deep into the incredible rise of Bruce Springsteen, one of the legendary songwriters and performers of the 20th century, with our guest Peter Ames Carlin, author of the New York Times bestselling book Bruce. In this episode, you'll hear:

• How Bruce grew up poor in a dysfunctional family with significant mental health issues
• The proto-metal music that he played in a previous band
• How the stress of a legal battle with his first manager resulted in one of the top albums of the 1970's
• How a Rolling Stone writer not only changed his destiny but became his manager
• How the characters in his town infused his many poignant songs
• How he played a vital role in both AIDs awareness and New York's 9/11 recovery

Bruce became a touchstone with poignant songs that struck a chord with an audience looking for the meaning of life in the mid-to-late 1970s and early 80s. Ironically, before Bruce, the fans who attended rock concerts and bought albums rarely were the subjects of the day's music.

Guest Bio:
Peter Ames Carlin is a journalist, critic and author of the New York Times best-seller called Bruce and is working on an upcoming book on the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run album. His work has been published in the New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and the Times in the UK.

Follow Garage to Stadiums (GTS) on social channels

• Share this episode with this link
• Follow GTS on Apple or Spotify podcasts
• Follow GTS on Instagram
• Follow GTS on LinkedIn
• Sign up for the Garage to Stadiums e-newsletter to get more bonus content

Bonus Content:

1. Download the Official Garage to Stadiums Bruce Springsteen playlist on Apple Music or Spotify
2. Visit GaragetoStadiums.com for bonus content on Bruce Springsteen, including concert footage, transcripts and other interesting facts.

Written from the everyday person's perspective, Springsteen songs like Born to Run, Thunder Road, Promised Land and Hungry Heart are mini-movies that put you squarely inside the main character's mind as they navigate life. As Bono of U2 said when he inducted Bruce into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, "if John Steinbeck could sing…".

The themes are as familiar as the American fabric: racing cars, highways, run-down factories, failed relationships, hopeful dreams, desperation, and redemption. Bruce helped create the American songbook of the ordinary person facing life milestones and challenges.

As you will hear, his songwriting was driven home with legendary concert performances that leave audiences in awe, lasting at least three hours and sometimes stretching to four. Bruce's philosophy seems to be: if hard-working people are going to spend hard-earned dollars to see me play, I'll make sure they get their money's worth. His work ethic on stage fits his working-class image. Or, as our guest, Peter Ames Carlin calls him, "a blue-collar troubadour".

Peter also describes in detail the impact of Bruce's father's mental health challenges on the family, which affected the family's finances and reputation in the community. He also outlines Bruce's later mental health struggles, as Bruce describes in this interview.