Two of the UK's top singer songwriters, Sid Griffin and Rod Clements will join forces to pay tribute to the genius of Bob Dylan in Cottingham this week.

Sid Griffin, frontman with bluegrass kings The Coal Porters, and former Lindisfarne guitar supremo Rod Clements will both take to the stage at The Back Room, in Hallgate, Cottingham, on Sunday when they will explore the mystery of Dylan's missing year with a mixture of song and verse.

Kentucky-born Sid, who has lived in London for 16 years, will be talking about his book The Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band And The Basement Tapes, which investigates what happened to Dylan when he disappeared from public life in 1966 when he was at the height of his powers.

Sid believes the enduring legacy of Dylan makes him an intriguing prospect for any biographer and, like Elvis, The Beatles and Beach Boy Brian Wilson, he was one of the most influential artistic figures of the twentieth century.

And he says the enigmatic musician's missing year makes perfect material for a spell-binding show.

"I don't want my show to be Open University, but I do want it to be interesting as well as entertaining," he says.

"Let's say it's half way between Open University and a booze-up in a pub.

"It used to be okay just to do a biography of these people but with Dylan, in the same way as Elvis or The Beatles, it is very hard to encapsulate his whole life in one book. I mean, how do you sum up a guy who had a number one album 42-years ago, and then another one last year? It's an immense subject. That's why now writers focus on one specific aspect of his life."

Sid believes the songs that Dylan recorded while holed-up away from the world, between 1966 and 1967, are of the same importance as Brian Wilson's infamous Smile album – which gained almost mythical status in the decades up to its release.

"Although 1967 was a quiet year for Dylan publicly, behind the scenes he was doing this incredibly good work. It's very similar to Smile because some of it took years to come out and came out in the wrong order."

Sid will be performing Dylan-penned tracks in between anecdotes about his research and conversations with Dylan associates before being joined by Rod, who will also be playing tracks from Dylan's missing years including Wheels On Fire, Quinn The Eskimo and You Ain't Going Nowhere.

Sid said he was looking forward to working with Rod again after producing Lindisfarne's acclaimed album Here Comes The Neighbourhood a decade ago.

"Rod's a virtuoso on the guitar," he says. "I'm pretty good, but I'm not even a quarter of what Rod can do, so it should be a great night watching a great musician perform some great tracks."

Sid Griffin and Rod Clements will perform at the Back Room, Hallgate, Cottingham, on Sunday, at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 on the door. Call (01964) 551145.