Bob Dylan

I fell for Bob Dylan's music as a teenager, back when people weren't particularly reverent of him. There were a lot of jokes about his voice. I loved it precisely because it was authentic, unpolished and real. He can incite a revolution as easily as he can sing you to sleep.

I went to see Bob Dylan when I was 18. I went alone. I had a lawn seat at the Starplex in Dallas, and a group of strangers next to me offered to share their blanket. We all sat in the sunshine together and became friends for the length of the concert.

When I hear "Boots of Spanish Leather," I am back on that lawn, sitting in the sun.

"Tomorrow Is a Long Time" has been on my bedtime playlist for years. I have listened to it thousands of times while drifting off to sleep. It quiets my nervous system in a way that very little else does.