Amy Helm Interview
Usually, the idiom “you were raised in a barn” is a negative, referring to one’s crude behaviour. In the case of Amy Helm, it’s apropos and positive. The singer-songwriter is the daughter of the late Levon Helm, drummer/vocalist for The Band, and singer Libby Titus. Helm grew up — and discovered her own expressive style — singing with her dad and his all-star Midnight Ramble house band in gigs at the famed studio/home in Woodstock, NY, affectionately known as The Barn, which Levon built back in the mid 1970s. Over the years, everyone from Steve Earle and Jackson Browne to Emmylou Harris and Mavis Staples have played this legendary venue.
Levon Helm Studios is situated on 18 acres in Woodstock, NY in the
heart of the Catskills and the Hudson Valley. Amy has made it part of her
musical mission to carry on her father’s legacy here.
“It’s really incredible,” says Helm. “The studio is not only alive and well,
but blossoming. We have a whole new staff and we’ve worked hard to get the
thing back up and running and be the landmark musical place that it is … we
have bands every weekend. The room still holds a lot of that magic. There is a
vibe there – you can feel it when you walk in.”
