Click Here for Video Sample! Second Solo Album On Rose Colored Vinyl LP!
Gorgeous, Soaring Harmonies From The Daughter Of Levon Helm!
During the This Too Shall Light sessions, Amy Helm was literally taken 3,000 miles out of her comfort zone leaving the family studio in Woodstock, New York for Los Angeles' iconic United Recording Studios, the same compound where The Beach Boys recorded Pet Sounds and "California Dreamin'" was tracked by The Mamas & The Papas. It was there that Helm began her collaboration with Joe Henry, the three-time GRAMMY-winning producer known for his work with artists like Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello and Lizz Wright. Together, in just four days, the pair traversed decades of material, stretching from early '70s Allen Toussaint through contemporary Americana darlings the Milk Carton Kids. Coupled with originals by Helm and Henry, and a pair of tributes to the singer's late father, the ten-song collection serves as the most complete look at Amy Helm as an artist to date.
Among the most personal songs on This Too Shall Light are "The Stones I Throw", a 1965 pre-The Band cut by Levon and the Hawks, and an arrangement of the traditional hymn "Gloryland", which remained a staple of Levon Helm's live sets through his final performances, with Amy playing a large part in his Midnight Ramble Band. Elsewhere, Helm reflects on a childhood hero, the late jazz pianist Blossom Dearie, whose live shows she found to be a transformative experience as a teenager.
Above all else, This Too Shall Light soars with riveting four-part harmonies as Helm displays an effortless chemistry with the vocal trio behind her. The singers are joined by Texas royalty on guitar with the inclusion of Doyle Bramhall II, and the air-tight rhythm section of Jay Bellerose (Robert Plant, Allison Krauss) on drums and Jennifer Condos (Ray LaMontagne, Jackson Browne) on bass. This Too Shall Light follows Helm's 2015 solo debut Didn't It Rain, which NPR described as a "glorious, soulful" record that "ushers in a new chapter of Helm's life."
While This Too Shall Light is only Helm's second album under her own name, it serves as a comprehensive portrait covering her life's journeys and recoveries; They're the stories that, no matter where they take her, seem to end and begin in the same place like a circle.
"The set was recorded in four days with no overdubs and only a few takes for each track. That provides a fresh, revealing quality that weaves through the songs. Although each can stand alone, there is a tangible groove to the playlist capped by the concluding 'Gloryland,' a traditional hymnal that closes this terrific effort on an appropriately sanctified note." - American Songwriter
"At the heart of This Too Shall Light is Helm's vocal performance, which swings between grand ('This Too Shall Light'), sweet and careful ('Heaven's Holding Me') and chorus-leading (the a cappella 'Gloryland'). On the songs she has written and those she has covered (Milk Carton Kids' 'Michigan') her voice becomes the light to which the album title alludes." - Exclaim!
"The daughter of Levon Helm zeroes in on her artistic true north on her second solo LP, a set of groove-rich, gospel-steeped Southern soul and country-blues with massed vocals at the fore. Her own have never sounded stronger or more confident, fitting the thematic through-line of holding fast in hard times. And her bandmates, many of whom played in her dad's Midnight Ramble group, are A-listers all. Standouts: a stirring cover of Rod Stewart's 'Mandolin Wind,' and 'Michigan,' a haunting farewell song with a satisfying shadow of The Band, because apples don't fall far from the tree." - Rolling Stone
Features:
• Vinyl LP
• First pressing on Rose Colored Vinyl
• Produced by Joe Henry
• Limited time digital download
Selections:
1. This Too Shall Light
2. Odetta
3. Michigan
4. Freedom For The Stallion
5. Mandolin Wind
6. Long Daddy Green
7. The Stones I Throw
8. Heaven's Holding Me
9. River Of Love
10. Gloryland
