PERFORMANCES
Levon Helm & John Hiatt (Tuesday): For many, music is an integral part of one’s Canadian-ness, as will be demonstrated this Thursday across the country at a variety of Canada Day concerts. We’re (naturally) very proud of our Neil Youngs, Joni Mitchells, Bruce Cockburns, Rushes, Broken Social Scenes and Arcade Fires but we also hold a special place in our hearts for our friends granted the status of “honorary Canadian” through their musical prowess.
Like modern songstress Neko Case, Levon Helm is one of Canada’s proudest imports. Levon Helm begins his Canadian music career as part of the legendary Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks (which would later be renamed Levon and the Hawks after Hawkins left the group). That, alone, would be enough to gain Helm a place in the hearts of musically inclined Canucks but there’s more! Levon and the Hawks would go on to be the backing band for Bob Dylan in order to facilitate the complicated (and controversial) process of ‘going electric’ (you may recall this from our Massey By the Decade post for 1964-1973.) Levon did leave the Hawks temporarily but returned shortly thereafter before the newly rechristened group, The Band, hit it big with albums like Music from Big Pink and then later, of course, as stars of (the album, film, and generally awesome event) The Last Waltz.
Since then, Helm has gone on to have a very successful solo music career and a substantial film cv (including his breakout performance in Coal Miner’s Daughter). In 2004, Helm began to host the Midnight Ramble Sessions at his studios in Woodstock, New York. Most recently his 2007 album Dirt Farmer won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2008 and then for his follow-up album Electric Dirt, took home another Grammy Award for best album in the new Americana category.
While Helm now resides in New York state and won an award in an “Americana” category, it doesn’t mean that we won’t maintain our pride for his part in Canadian music history. This Tuesday night, we’ll welcome Helm with open arms on stage at Massey Hall when he performs his Ramble on the Road in a concert co-billed with another musical legend, John Hiatt and The Combo.
WEB WATCH
Peter Frampton will be paying a visit to Massey Hall later this summer and we’re most excited. In gearing up for the big event, check out this interview from the Baltimore Sun where Frampton declares: “I’ve never sat on my laurels. I’m not an oldies act. I play my hits. I could never not come out on tour each year without something new.” And something new we shall indeed see and hear as Frampton has just released a new album Thank You Mr. Churchill – you can sample a track on his site here. And just for all you Frampton fans out there who are also Gleeks, enjoy this video clip from the George Lopez show where he shares a “glee moment” with Frampton himself.
Stefania Paterak is programming coordinator at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall
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