Levon Helm and I had never
met, nor had I ever seen him play. But our lives Venn diagrammed in 2005 when I
began working on my first recording at a studio in a converted auto garage in
the backwater marshlands of south jersey. The project before us had been one of
the last Dixie Hummingbird recordings, a gospel group from Philadelphia whose
most pop culture claim to fame was singing Loves Me Like A Rock with Paul
Simon. But if you went deeper, you’d find that the Dixie Hummingbirds were a
serious staple of American music and anyone of the same mind, that is, with a
deep sense of peace and place in that gospel tradition, wanted to be a part.
Levon played drums on that last recording, so weeks before we set up for our
sessions, he had been playing in the same live room and to me, all the musical
history that preceded had leaked in. I was giddy to be breathing in that same
musical air, putting sounds into the same microphones and sharing a sacred
space. To be part of that tradition, more than autographs and handshakes, has
always been my motivation.
Sometimes I imagine
America as a grand piece of fabric and the musical history as a lovely rich dye
and picture dipping the bottom of it into this liquid and seeing it seep up and
out, into tributaries and cities, making its wild way. Levon resided for a good deal of his
impressionistic youth down south where this reaction had its first
contact. I do believe he, whether
intentionally or by the default of his joyous pursuits, became a prime
transmitter of this history but he also was so free in himself so as to play like
no one else. He, and the band in general, has made me want to defy mediocrity
and put something of myself into the world. The best always make you feel this
way.
So even though I never got
the chance in person, I am always greeting the spirit of Levon Helm with my
music. In the joy of it. In my respect for its journey. In my ever seeking
connection to listeners. In my continuing observance of this life around me.
All of us went to the tribute last night to celebrate and meditate on what he had such a huge part of bringing
into this world. For, how could we not reflect back our respects like an ocean
illuminated by the sun and moon?
