It was Thursday before the Memorial Day weekend, prompting a great traffic migration from all over the state to a shore town and to the annual BobFest celebration in Red Bank, New Jersey. Riding high on memories, I made the trek back to my home state, the Garden State, familiar with the backroads that would lead me to a musical homecoming. Gray light overcast the scene, while drizzling spatters and the intermittent wipers hit the windshield with a drummer’s beat, keeping time with the band’s bass. It was that time of year, the end of May, marking the start of the summer season, and Pat Guadagno and Tired Horses’ celebration of Bob Dylan’s birthday and music. While death announcements can be shocking and shattering for a close-knit music community, any loss can have a distressing effect on the band members. Yet, it can also provide a gathering of loved ones whose bonds are as strong as any long-standing connection, as interpretations for acknowledging the final curtain call can often be the most fitting farewells in song and lyric.
           In past years, Yuri and I traveled at a snail’s pace on the Garden State Parking Lot, commenting on the changes affecting Red Bank, a town recognized as one of the best places for Jersey’s homegrown music talent. What began at a local bar during Pat Guadagno’s regular gigs—a request for a Bob Dylan song since it was May 24, Bob Dylan’s birthday—grew into an annual event for the performers, all of whom were lifelong working musicians. Decades of interconnections and band names that Yuri had played with—Kinderhook, Bombay, The World, Soul Purpose, Rude Awakening, Now, Voyager, Grupo Yuri, Glimmer Grass Band, and so many others on stage as well as studio sessions—brought the Jersey Sound aspect of his repertoire to the forefront alongside Pat and members of Tired Horses.
            Our arrival through the loading dock entrance, situated around the block from the grand