MINNEAPOLIS — In his 2020 tune “My Own Version of You,” Bob Dylan sang, “To hell with all the things that I used to be.” Now, his fellow Upper Midwest songwriter Justin Vernon is making a similar statement as he channels his own version of Bob Dylan.

The Wisconsin indie-folk singer doubly known as Bon Iver offered the first taste of his new Dylan tribute band via a video that explains his desire to “try to be Bob Dylan for a night.” Vernon plans to debut the new group — cutely (and confusingly) called Bon Dylan — at his Eaux Claires music festival, scheduled July 24-25 in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Eaux Claires is returning from a seven-year hiatus, and in the new video the festival founder credits Dylan himself for sparking the idea. Vernon was in attendance with his dad when Dylan performed for the first time in Eau Claire in April 2025.

“It’s been too long to remember since the town felt that together,” he said in the new clip. “So we thought we’d better get the festival back going.

“And then [came] the question of whether Bon Iver should play or not,” Vernon inauspiciously added.

As we reported when the Eaux Claires lineup was announced in February, Vernon is not planning to deliver a Bon Iver set at the festival; just Bon Dylan. He has officially put Bon Iver on hiatus as a live act, and he offered insight into why in the video.

“I haven’t felt much like being what I’ve been — or been seen to have been, or what I wanted to have been, or what I’ve become. So I thought it’d be cool to try to be Bob Dylan for a night. I’m trying to turn Bon into Bob.”

Some of the musicians from the Bon Iver live band will serve in the Dylan tribute band, including drummer/multi-instrumentalist Sean Carey (aka S. Carey) and bassist/saxophonist Michael Lewis from the Twin Cities. Both of Lewis’ bandmates in Alpha Consumer also will be in Bon Dylan, drummer J.T. Bates and guitarist Jeremy Ylvisaker. The rest of the lineup will include Phil Cook, JP Brooks, Camaja Byrd, Ben Lester, Katira Lutterman, John Pieter and Courtland Pickens.

More key details on Bon Dylan: The plan is to perform a Dylan set from the mid-1990s era. Evidence of that was offered in the video, which features Vernon and his cronies performing “Not Dark Yet,” from Dylan’s Grammy-winning 1997 album “Time Out of Mind.” Also, Vernon is calling this a one-time-only performance.

Vernon’s Dylan troupe is scheduled to play the first day of Eaux Claires, alongside Aimee Mann, Hotline TNT, Kevin Morby, Jon Cleary, Bizhiki, and another tribute act, Black Sabbath Cover Band Rehearsal (featuring the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner). Day 2’s lineup will include Dijon, Daniel Caesar, Lil Yachty, Gash, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas and more.

The festival will be held in a new location, Carson Park, nearer to downtown Eau Claire. Tickets are on sale now via eauxclaires.com priced $119-$229 for a one-day pass or $229-$399 for two-day.

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