Landon McDonald (LM): All right Mr. Dylan, thanks for taking the time to talk with me.

Jakob Dylan (JD): Yeah, of course.

LM: How’s the tour been going so far?

JD: So far it’s gone real well. We’re a couple of shows into it now.

LM: Let’s see, my first question is probably the most obvious. Like everyone, I’ve been hearing rumblings of a possible Wallflowers reunion for 2012. What do you guys have planned?

JD: Well, our plan is to get together in a studio by January and make a record. You know, we never really broke up or anything, we just kind of went and did some different things for a while. We always had plans to get back together; it was just finding the time that was difficult.

LM: Do you think that will lead to a new tour as well?

JD: Yeah, the idea would be to make the record and when it’s done, we’ll get on tour.

LM: That’s good news. Now, my first real exposure to your music was Seeing Things, your 2008 solo album, which for my money featured some of the finest music written in the last decade. It really blew me away the first time I listened to it.

JD: Well, that’s very cool. Thank you, I’m glad.

LM: And the first track I heard was “Evil Is Alive and Well,” which to me seems to draw on everything from late-period Johnny Cash to the fiction of Cormac McCarthy. Could you talk about the background on that song and its really memorable music video?

JD: Memorable music video… You saw that? The animated one?

LM: Yeah, the style on display there was pretty impressive.

JD: Well, the two people you just mentioned; those are great compliments. I’m definitely a fan of both. Well let’s see, I wrote that particular song about five years ago now. I think it’s true what the song says, but I think a lot of good things are alive and well too. I think positivity and goodness are alive and well also, but that’s just one way to look at it, the idea that evil is alive and well. And what you mentioned, man, it would have been nice if Johnny Cash had gotten the chance to play that song.

LM: I can’t imagine. That would have been amazing, and probably right up his alley…

JD: Yeah…

LM: And would you say that “Something Good This Way Comes” kind of serves as a counterpoint to that piece?

JD: It could be, you could definitely say so. You know, that’s the yin and yang. That’s the left and right, the top of the coin and the bottom of the coin. I think you’ve got to represent both perspectives.

LM: I can see that, definitely. Now I know you wrote the vast majority of the Wallflowers’ material. Do the lyrics or the melody usually come first for you?

JD: You know, the best ones come at the same time. But I can do either. I can do music first or I can do lyrics first. It’s just a matter of finding two that fit each other. You’ve got to keep your head clear and open, but the real strong ones show up at the same time. You don’t really know why or how. But in the meantime, you’ve got to do one or the other.

LM: I know a lot of artists talk about that moment of inspiration, like a spark that goes off in your head…

JD: Oh yeah, that’s where the good stuff is, but that’s not always going to happen. So you’ve got to spend a lot of time grinding it out as well. I don’t think there’s any divine inspiration that goes into writing songs, really. I mean, if they’re not falling on you, if you’re not receiving them, then you’ve just got to go back to work. Because I just want more, I’m prepared for both scenarios.

LM: Do you feel like your writing process or style changed at all as you moved into solo work after the release of 2006’s Rebel, Sweetheart?

JD: Well, it’s just such a different situation when you’re writing for a band. There are a lot of visions to be shared. You’ve got to make room for everybody, and that’s what’s great about groups. But sometimes the material you’ve written just isn’t appropriate for that. With my last few records, the songs were all written knowing that the vocals would just be there sitting on top. I think The Wallflowers’ better moments had both at once…

LM: The power and the intimacy…

JD: But it can be a struggle sometimes, but it allows you different opportunities. I knew with Women & Country, I had talked to T-Bone Burnett early on and we had talked about creating a landscape for it, so I was able to write with that in mind.

LM: Speaking of T-Bone Burnett, what’s it like to collaborate with him? How does his process differ from someone like Rick Rubin, who produced Seeing Things with you?

JD: How are they different? I don’t think they could be more different, really.

LM: Polar opposites?

JD: Yeah, T-Bone is someone I’ve always gone back to at different turning points in my musical career. I’ve known him for as long as I can remember, and he always enhances any project he works on, sometimes just by being in the room. That’s what making records is really all about. There is no right and wrong, it’s really about finding a space where whoever’s in the center of the record, whether it’s a band or just me, to get them focused and ready to perform. Otherwise the record won’t matter. T-Bone has an incredible ability to bring out the best in people. That sounds like a cliché, but not everybody really does that. It can be the opposite effect sometimes, working with others in the studio. But the environment he provides is what I really enjoy about working with him.

LM: Is it a generally direct, hands-on style of collaboration, or does he just sit back and let the creative process take its course?

JD: Well, he can do any of it. T-Bone can work the control board, write the song for you, play the guitar or sing. Just about anything that’s called for…

LM: He’s been called a jack-of-all-trades…

JD: Yeah, and judging by the people he’s been working with lately, he really seems to be enjoying helping people to realize their own visions and guiding them along the way.

LM: Jeff Bridges is probably the most recent example.

JD: Yeah, T-Bone was behind that as well. There’s nothing I talk about in the studio that he can’t relate to, whether it’s the songwriting process or issues with the instruments. He’s a powerhouse.

LM: Are you planning to work with him again on the new Wallflowers album?

JD: I hope so. I haven’t discussed it with him yet, but T-Bone’s always someone on my mind.

LM: Now you’ve always seemed like a lightning rod for other artists. You’ve opened for Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones and you’ve sung with everyone from Norah Jones to Neko Case to the Roots to Elvis Costello. Which collaborations have been the most enjoyable or artistically rewarding for you?

JD: The artists you mentioned, they’re all great people. As for working with them, that’s definitely something I want to do more of. I’m not too precious about any of it. I’ve just enjoyed the opportunities.

LM: You’ve covered the full spectrum; such an eclectic group…

JD: Tonight, I’m actually playing with Willy Nelson.

LM: Really?

JD: Yeah.

LM: I actually got to see you guys a few months ago at Farm Aid. That was something else. Now, in my opinion, you’re one of the few artists out there to approach cover songs with equal parts faithfulness and ingenuity. You’ve covered material from the Beatles, Bob Marley, Warren Zevon and David Bowie. Yet every song comes out sounding both reverential and fresh.

JD: Well, that’s a good description. How did you describe it? Reverential and fresh? That’s what we’ve definitely strived for. I’ve never been interested in taking people’ songs and flipping them upside down and reinventing them. I want to play them just as they were. You could say it’s copying, but it won’t come out like that because you’re a different group and it’s many years later, so it will sound different. If they’re great songs, they don’t need to be radically reinvented.

LM: Now you’ve contributed songs to TV shows like True Blood and the main theme for Six Degrees. You even portrayed the voice of a newborn infant in the first Rugrats movie.

JD: Right (laughs).

LM: Do you have any plans to ever try your hand at acting?

JD: If the right thing came up, I think it would be a lot of fun. Can’t be a whole lot different than the rest of my life, can it?

LM: Exactly (laughs).

JD: Just a bigger stage, right?

LM: Yeah. Speaking of TV and film work, David Lynch has always been one of my favorite filmmakers and I’ve enjoyed his recent foray into the music industry as well. How did he approach you about co-contributing a track for Download For Good, the iTunes compilation that benefits his foundation for transcendental meditation as a way to cope with traumatic stress?

JD: I never spoke to David Lynch personally, but it seemed like a great thing to be involved with. Rami Jaffee from the Wallflowers was actually the guy who originally talked me into contributing to that track, along with Daryl Hannah.

LM: Yeah, I know she’s better known as an actress from movies like Splash and the Kill Bill series, but she can really sing…

JD: Yeah, I don’t know if it’s a secret or not, but she’s a fine singer.

LM: Do you yourself practice meditation at all?

JD: I’m meditating right now. I try to keep a peaceful mind and I have the resources to do that, but I wouldn’t give it a name specifically.

LM: What was your experience recording “Oh Mama, Come Home” for your father’s Hank William tribute album?

JD: Well, I got to see the book early on, with all his unused lyrics.

LM: Oh yeah, the lost notebooks…

JD: Yeah, it was a good opportunity to show one way those songs could have been sung, because I think they’re finished. I think they’re complete and awfully mighty just on their own. I don’t feel like I got to co-write a song with Hank Williams in any sense. The notebooks themselves are astounding, not just in sheer volume, but how complete they all were. As soon as I picked out the song I recorded, the melody was already there in my head. But it’s just one way to have sung that song.

LM: Well, it was an excellent interpretation. Did you interact with any of the other artists who appear on the album?

JD: No, that song was actually recorded back while I was still working on Seeing Things. It just took a while for him to compile all the rest.

LM: Yeah, I’d imagine that was quite a task. Can you talk about the inclusion of your song “Nothing But The Whole Wide World” on Glen Campbell’s album Ghost on the Canvas? It’s obviously a very emotional work, a meditation on human frailty and finding the strength to adapt and endure. Did you originally write it with Mr. Campbell in mind?

JD: His producer is someone that I know, and he asked me a little while ago if I had any material that might suit Glen Campbell that I hadn’t used yet. At first I didn’t think I had anything that sounded appropriate for him, so I did write that with him in mind. He actually ended up recording his version before I recorded mine on Women & Country. When I wrote that song, it put me in a mind-frame that I really liked, so I just kept going. That song was basically the foundation for Women & Country.

LM: What do you think of his version?

JD: It’s great. I think it’s a fantastic version of the song.

LM: Now, we were talking about Farm Aid, which came to Kansas City earlier this year. Could you talk about your involvement with organizations like Farm Aid and Harvesters in Kansas City?

JD: Well, it kind of goes without saying, but when you have the opportunity you have to give back. Farm Aid represents so much what I care about, basically that we have to take care of our own backyard before we can worry about faraway places. This year’s turnout was great, and it was very cool to be one of the first shows to play that new stadium.

LM: Will you be there next year?

JD: I hope so, but it’s too soon to tell.

LM: Yeah, I imagine the reunion will be keeping you pretty busy.

JD: I hope so. I hope I’m busy.

LM: Now my usual position with Jayplay is reviewing films, so I would be remiss not to ask you what your favorite movie is.

JD: My favorite movie of all time? Oh, man. I’ve got no game for you right now. Let’s see… I saw the first two Godfather movies in a theater out in L.A. not too long ago. These were the 35-mm restored versions, and they looked great.

LM: And finally, aside from the Wallflowers, what are your plans for future projects? Do you think there’ll be a third solo album down the line?

JD: Yeah, I’m sure there will be eventually. If I’m doing it right, there’s time for everything.

LM: I think people like you, Jack White and definitely Tom Waits are all recent examples of artists who possess the drive to diversify without spreading yourselves too thin or burning yourselves out in the process. I know that’s a risk, but you guys pull it off…

JD: Yeah, well, I try. That’s all you can do, right?