Harvest Goes Big: 13-Piece Levon Helm Band to Headline in Allman Slot
August 16, 2011
The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival announced today that it has signed Grammy-winner and Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Levon Helm and his 13-piece band to headline a show on Thursday, September 15, replacing Gregg Allman, who was forced to cancel his two performances for health reasons.
It is the second blockbuster announcement made by Harvest in 24 hours. Yesterday, the Festival announced that blues master Buddy Guy will replace Allman on Wednesday, September 14th. Both shows will be in the Budweiser Blues Tent.
Helm, one of the most well-respected and influential drummers in rock history, first rose to prominence in a band that that became so quintessential, it need only be called The Band. They were inducted by Eric Clapton into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Helm was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the Top 100 vocalists of all time, as the voice behind such iconic rock songs as The Weight, Up on Cripple Creek, The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down, Ophelia and a dozen other Band classics. As a throat cancer survivor, Levon now shares vocal duties with his daughter Amy and other members of his stellar 13-piece band.
“We’ve come back from the blow of losing Gregg Allman with two legendary acts, two giant shows,” said Brad Wasson, Chair of the Festival. “It’s fair to say that a lot of the disappointment around here over the Allman cancellation has been erased and replaced with a serious adrenaline rush after signing both Buddy Guy and Levon Helm.”
“Our music director Brent Staeben has pulled off something quite incredible here. In one week, he’s pulled in not one, but two Hall-of-Famers, and reignited excitement for the Festival,” added Wasson.
Tickets for the Buddy Guy and Levon Helm shows go on sale at the Festival store, 81 Regent Street, or through Ticketpro – online or by phone – at 10am on Wednesday morning.
Patrons with Gregg Allman tickets may use their ticket to get into that night’s show, no exchange necessary, or exchange for the alternate night’s performance, or returned for a full refund. Tickets for either night’s show also allow patrons to stay for the Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe Afterburner for free.
Anticipating high demand for both Levon Helm and Buddy Guy, Harvest has also created a new Wednesday/Thursday pass for the first time ever. The new Wednesday/Thursday pass will cost $79.50 and allows access to our four main tents and brand new TD Jazz Central on Thursday night, as well as the Buddy Guy show on Wednesday. The pass, and individual tickets to the Wednesday and Thursday Blues Tent shows will go on sale Wednesday, August 17 at 10am.
“Levon is bringing one of rock’s greatest musical catalogues to draw from, and a 13-piece band of exceptional musicians to perform them. It’s going to be a huge show to see,” says Staeben.
Although The Band broke up in 1976 (their last concert having been filmed by Martin Scorsese to create The Last Waltz, largely considered one of the greatest rockumentaries of all time), Levon has continued a successful solo career since, particularly in the last decade with two Grammy wins and intimate weekly shows dubbed the Midnight Ramble Sessions at his home in Woodstock, New York drawing all-star guests on a weekly basis, including Dr John, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones and Taj Mahal to name a few.
His most recent solo projects, 2007’s Dirt Farmer and 2009’s Electric Dirt, both won Grammy awards (including the first-ever awarded Best Americana Album for Electric Dirt). In May of this year, he released Ramble at the Ryman, a live recording that captures the magic of Levon’s live show.
