Catching Up With... Amy Helm

Paste: What is Levon Helm like to work with in the studio?
Helm: He’s a diva! He’s right up there with Barbra Streisand! (laughing) I’m only joking. It was pretty incredible to watch him sing and to watch him play the drums the way that he does. It was very exciting to be in the studio with him because he would come up with an idea and we’d try a take and hit the record button, and he would just execute these songs and be kicking so much ass! As a musician, sometimes I would have moments in the studio with him where Byron [Isaacs, who played bass and sang on Dirt Farmer] and I, or Larry and Byron and Teresa and I would be there with our jaws dropped because we just couldn’t believe what this man was doing.

It’s exciting to be around older musicians who’ve really mastered their instrument and who bring to the table such a different energy and who’ve learned not to give a shit or to give a shit about the right thing, you know? That kind of real authenticity. That was very exciting to be around for me as a singer. I was in awe of it. He knows what feels right to him and he knows what doesn’t, and it’s interesting to watch how his intuitive relationship to the music really sculpted each song. Our sounding board was that part of him – if [a passage] needed to slow down or speed up, or if the key needed to change, or if he needed to try a different intention with the song. His musicality sang out very loudly what it needed.

Paste: What sorts of obstacles did you face with this album?
Helm: We didn’t have too many obstacles. We really didn’t. It was a really cool process. Sometimes, when you’re trying songs like that, you might try one and it doesn’t quite catch the light as quickly as some of the other ones did. Some songs took longer than others, and you have to sort of step back from them. It was interesting to be there in a producer role and practice the patience to see if something is going to come around and become something you can use or knowing when to let it go and quit trying to create a song that maybe just isn’t fitting.

Paste: Do you have any favorites?
Helm: My favorite performance is “A Train Robbery.” We were all sitting upstairs in the other part of the control room, and he did that song in one take. All of us, we just couldn’t believe it, to hear his voice in the room sounding so strong. As a singer, he’s just brilliant. It was like taking a master class. There’s a part of that that’s just very cool to be around. That was my favorite performance because I remember getting chills hearing him sing that.

Paste: In the liner notes, he describes Dirt Farmer as the culmination of “an age of miracles.”
Helm: The studio burned down. He rebuilt his house. He went through bankruptcy. He’s been through it all. He’s truly been to hell and back. When I talk about hearing that authenticity or this different thing that he brings to the table, it’s because he’s someone who cares about different things. The things that matter to him have changed. He knows what counts and what doesn’t. And there’s a power in that, and a confidence and a self-reliance that all musicians—or anyone who loves music—can hear and respond to. He did have to get his confidence back. Part of what makes his singing now so strong is that he wasn’t afraid to admit that he was very scared. He was scared to lose his voice and to get back up on stage and know that people had high expectations because he’s already made a name. But he wasn’t afraid to admit any of that.

Paste: Are you going to tour behind Dirt Farmer, or get back to recording?
Helm: Yeah, hopefully we’re going to tour and continue recording. It’d be great to record as much as possible and to work with this group of people who have a really good family feel.

Paste: Can you tell me a little about his influence in your own music?
Helm: I think with Ollabelle, I know that with Tony [Leone] and Byron and Glen [Patscha], they’ve studied a lot of The Band’s music, and I’m sure that he’s a big influence on them. And on me, he’s had a huge influence. I really love the music of The Band and I really admire my dad’s music, of course. I think he’s a badass. I’d do anything to be able to sing like that. I put him right up there with Mavis Staples or Dolly Parton or any of my other heroes. If I could sing a song like him or Richard [Manuel] or Rick [Danko], I’d be really psyched. You put on one of the songs that they sang and you get sort of inspired to try a little harder and aim for something in yourself that has the same level of soul. I count myself as a big fan.