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    Tuesday, December 03, 2024

    Emma Swift sings Dylan Thursday at Downtown Live! in New London

    Emma Swift (Contributed)

    If you're going to title your album as a pun on an already-existing album, it's probably a good idea that everyone knows the name of the record being lampooned.

    For example, Aussie native Emma Swift's debut, "Blonde On the Tracks," is clearly a reference to Bob Dylan's "Blood On the Tracks."

    More than that, though, the recording contains eight pretty wonderful and thoughtfully curated Swiftian interpretations (see how I did that?) of Dylan tunes. Swift has a yearning and wistfully pretty voice, and she performs Thursday in New London's Hygienic Art Park as part of the free Downtown Live! concert series.

    "Blonde On the Tracks" was produced in Nashville by Wilco's Pat Sansone, and the veteran musicians on the album include Swift's partner, Robyn Hitchcock.

    Idea: for her next effort, Swift can do renditions of Hitchcock songs (I'd love to hear her voice nuancing "If You Go Away"). And she could call the album "Sing Like an Egyptians"! (See how I did that again?)

    Opening Thursday is the always enjoyable Dogbite.

    Downtown Live! is a production of New London Music Festivals Inc.

    Emma Swift, 6 p.m. Thursday, Hygienic Art Park, 79 Bank St., New London; Downtown Live!; free; www.downtownnewlondonassociation.com.

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