Daniel Donato Covers Bob Dylan With Mike Bloomfield’s ’63 Telecaster In Chicago

Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country sealed a two-night stand at Chicago’s Thalia Hall on Saturday. Donato delivered a pair of Bob Dylan songs with the help of late Chicago blues great Mike Bloomfield’s guitar to conclude the concert.

Chicago native Mike Bloomfield was a student of the city’s storied electrified blues history. In the early 1960s, he played guitar for some of the towering names in blues including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Sleepy John Estes, among other artists.

Bloomfield met Bob Dylan in Chicago in 1963. He went on to play a major role in the “Dylan goes electric” period, contributing guitar on one of Dylan’s greatest albums, 1965’s Highway 61 Revisited. Mike’s work on “Like A Rolling Stone,” often cited as one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time, is iconic. He also appeared with Bob for the latter’s infamous 1965 Newport Folk Festival appearance.

This was the history Daniel Donato stepped into when he picked up Bloomfield’s 1963 Telecaster in Chicago on Saturday. He wielded the axe, provided by Chicago-based Family Guitars, to close the concert with two Bob Dylan covers. The encore kicked off with Blood On The Tracks opener “Tangled Up In Blue,” on which he delivered a scorching, countrified solo.

Daniel Donato detailed playing Bloomfield’s guitar in a social media post:

Thank you to Family Guitars for bringing out the Mike Bloomfield Telecaster. Mike has been an influence of mine since I was 15. The guitar pictured above is the one Mike played with Bob Dylan at Newport Folk Festival in 1964. The popular claim is that it is the guitar that ‘killed folk music.’ I personally believe that this guitar helped bring folk music to life, to help bring it to millions of people who are still inspired by it 62 years later. What a blessing to be able to be a part of the tapestry of life that has flowed through this instrument.

To wrap the show, Donato and Cosmic Country tossed around verses on Dylan’s “Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn).” Beyond the Dylan covers on the Bloomfield guitar, the band opened the concert with Merle Haggard’s “Honky Tonk Night Time Man.” The first set saw Will McGee on stand up bass and included the debut cover of “Why Wyoming.”

Set two got underway with the original “Passing Storm.” The band also delivered a cover of the Harry Nilsson classic “Everybody’s Talkin” before wrapping the set with the original “Chore.” A livestream replay of the entire show is available for nugs subscribers. Scroll on to check out the setlist and official photos from the show.