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Dylan’s XM show tangled up

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Times Staff Writer

Is Bob Dylan’s satellite radio show up in the air?

Back in December, XM Satellite Radio announced with much fanfare that the enigmatic bard of rock would launch a weekly show in March for which he would handpick music, interview peers and share his insights into what he played.

But the calendar shows that March is over today and there’s still no Dylan to be found on XM’s dial.

“It’s definitely going to happen, but it’s taking a little longer than originally planned,” said XM spokeswoman Anne-Taylor Griffith. “Bob is super involved in the show, and, like with everything he does, he wants it be just a certain way, and it’s taking some time.... We’ve already received several episodes of the show, and they’re absolutely fantastic.”

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With Dylan moving at his own chosen speed, the show is now expected to premiere in early May.

In April, XM will announce the show’s title and schedule and also release some sample playlists, which Griffith described as “amazing” surveys of music both new and vintage.

In a December statement, Dylan said he was enthusiastic about adding a new career to his resume: “Songs and music have always inspired me. A lot of my own songs have been played on the radio, but this is the first time I’ve ever been on the other side of the mike.”

The singer-songwriter turns 65 at the end of May, and there has been a flurry of Dylan-iana in recent years. In addition to his recordings and near-constant touring, the singer in 2004 released “Chronicles: Volume One,” the first installment of his memoirs.

And last September, he was the subject of the acclaimed Martin Scorsese documentary “No Direction Home.” There was also the Twyla Tharp musical “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”

Dylan, who opens a new string of shared concerts with Merle Haggard on April 7, will play a high-profile show April 28, the opening day of the 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

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