Rob Stoner  was Dylan's bass player and band leader throughout the late 1970s. He toured with Dylan during the Rolling Thunder Revue (1975-1976) and again during the 1978 World Tour and was bassist for the Desire (1976), Hard Rain (1976) and Live 1975 (2002) albums. Rob also played bass and sang background for Don McLean's "American Pie". At the Convention Rob will be performing Rolling Thunder songs and more together with Scarlet Rivera, Joel Gilbert and Highway 61 Revisited. Earlier in the afternoon he, Scarlet and Joel Gilbert will be available for a Questions and Answers session.

 Scarlet Rivera  was an unknown violinist who was discovered by Dylan on the streets of Greenwich Village in June 1975. Scarlet's violin made a unique and memorable contribution to the Desire album and The Rolling Thunder tours of 1975 and 1976. Scarlet is now one of the world's most prominent and versatile violinists, known for her passionate performances and stage presence. At the Convention, in addition to performing with Rob Stoner, Joel Gilbert and Highway 61 Revisited, Scarlet will also be talking about her involvement with Dylan during 1975-1976.

 Joel Gilbert  is the leader of Highway 61 Revisited (above), the highly acclaimed American Bob Dylan tribute band. Joel is also the Director and Producer of the films "Bob Dylan 1966 World Tour – The Home Movies", "Bob Dylan World Tours 1966-1974" and "Rolling Thunder and The Gospel Years 1975-1981". Joel will be performing and talking at the Convention. This is what Mickey Jones, Dylan's drummer on the 1966 tour, says of Joel Gilbert and Highway 61 Revisited: "When I hear Highway 61 Revisited's recreation of the music that I played with Dylan, it's very special to me. As I travel around the country, I see people trying to do Bob Dylan, and there are guys that are not too bad. But I've never seen anybody but Joel Gilbert that when you walk into the room and see him, you have to do a double take, because not only does he sing like Bob Dylan and sound like Bob Dylan, he looks like Bob Dylan! Highway 61 Revisited is THE BEST Bob Dylan recreation I've ever seen, and I've been there and done that, and Joel Gilbert is the guy!"

 Highway 61 Revisited  With stunning authenticity, the Los Angeles-based tribute show, Highway 61 Revisited recreates Bob Dylan's greatest music and stage show. The poetry, symbolism, defiance, and power of Bob Dylan's greatest songs and performances resonate today thanks to Highway 61 Revisited. Winston Watson, who was a member of Bob Dylan's backing band from September 1992 to August 4, 1996 will be on drums.
Go to Highway 61's Website

 Michael Gray  English writer and critic, especially about rock 'n' roll and travel. Michael is our main speaker for the event and has written extensively on Dylan. He is author of "Song and Dance Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan", and has a new Dylan book "The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia" (pictured right), which was years in preparation and has over 800 pages. He will be signing copies of his books at the Convention.

Visit Michael's blog at http://bobdylanencyclopedia.blogspot.com/, which has been inspired by The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia and includes a wealth of information about Dylan and the author.

 Duncan Bartlett  is a brilliant speaker from the BBC, and will be talking about 1961, Dylan, John Lee Hooker and Gerdes Folk City.

Dylanesque Michael Crimmins of the renowned band Dylanesque will be performing a special acoustic set to start the evening and will be closing the night with an all-comers hootenanny. Further details about Dylanesque can be found at the band's website http://www.dylanesque.co.uk/