Sunday, October 7, 7 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Lauded by the New York Times for her “hale and limber voice” and her “mining of emotional subtleties within a song,” Americana singer/songwriter Amy Helm plays Davenport's Redstone Room on October 7 in support of her September 21 release This Too Shall Light, an album American Songwriter praised for its “subtle, organic, but vibrant spirituality that aims straight at your heart” and for Helm's “restrained yet obvious passion.”
The daughter of legendary The Band drummer Levon Helm and singer/songwriter Libby Titus (whose songs have been recorded by artists including Linda Ronstadt and Carly Simon), Helm made her recording debut, at age 23, as a background vocalist for Donald Fagen's Kamakiriad, and followed that 1993 assignment by performing in the studio and on tour with the reunited Steely Dan. In 1999, Helm toured the country with her father in his blues band The Barn Burners, and two years later became a founding member of the alt-country esemble Ollabelle, which toured and recorded for 10 years and released critically acclaimed albums in 2004's Ollabelle, 2006's Riverside Battle Songs, and 2011's Neon Blue Bird. Recording his first album in 25 years, Levon recruited his daughter to co-produce his comeback Dirt Farmer, which won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album, and Amy won another a mere two years later for Helm's Electric Dirt – the first Grammy awarded in the inaugural Best Americana Album category.
Helm released her solo-album debut Didn't It Rain in 2015, a work that boasts the last recorded drum performances by her father, who passed away in 2012. Also featuring members of the Midnight Ramble Band and singers John Medeski, Bill Payne, and Catherine Russell, the album received considerable critical attention, with Rolling Stone stating, “Helm shares a certain loose-limbed sensibility with Bonnie Raitt, her rangy voice easily sliding from the New Orleans' tinged title track to the swampy closer.” And Helm continues to amass sensational notices with This Too Shall Light, a collection of original gospel and Americana tunes alongside covers of songs by such artists as T Bone Burnett, Rod Stewart, and her father's outfit The Band. NYSMusic.com called it “a sonically vibrant album, guided by [Helm's] rich vocal reflections, on the cyclic essence of life,” while NoDepression.com raved, “Helm delivers here like she does live, totally immensed in the moment yet able to reach out and share, taking you along for the ride of your life.”
Amy Helm performs her October 7 Redstone Room concert with an opening set by Lewis Knudsen, admission is $22-25, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)326-1333 or visiting RiverMusicExperience.org.
