Last Friday my buddy Buzzard and I went to the sold out (400 people) Amy Helm concert at St. Basil's Cultural Centre presented by the New Moon Folk Club.
As always with shows put on by the New Moon Folk Club they have a local artist opening the show. This time around it was the Leo Martinez Project. I had never heard of them before but wow, they were really good.
They only played a 20 minute set, but they made the best of their short set. Leo Martinez plays guitar and sings and also played bass drum and had a tambourine tied to his ankle, making him a one man band, but he did have a fiddle player (Cam Neufeld) and bass player (Sean Stephens) with him as well. Leo has got an incredibly strong voice and a lot of rhythm in his guitar playing. Opening his set with a short rendition of "Amazing Grace" which got everyone's attention right away. This is an artist that will be making waves in Edmonton and beyond. A very nice surprise for an opening act.
Leo Martinez Project.
Next up was Amy Helm (the daughter of Levon Helm from The Band) with what she is calling the Amy Helm acoustic Trio. This would be my second time seeing Amy Helm in concert. And I have to say I enjoyed this show more so then the previous time I saw her. Not that the last show wasn't good, just that this one was even better. Amy and her band played two 45 minute sets that seemed to go by so quick. This was the first show of her tour through Alberta having just played in Jamaica a few days earlier. So to go from sunny hot Jamaica to winter in Alberta must have been a bit of a shock to the system.
Amy's set was a mix of covers and originals from her latest album This Too Shall Light. Her music is a mix of folk, Americana and a touch of gospel. She has an amazing voice and the two guitar players she had with her were really good as well, great harmony between the trio. Some of the songs she played from her albums were, the title track "This Too Shall Light", "Gloryland", "Good News", "Rescue Me" and "Gentling Me" a song she did with Mary Gauthier. She also did some great covers like "Atlantic City" a Bruce Springsteen song that she told a great story about her father Levon singing this song lots while recovering from throat cancer. Speaking of Levon, she also did the song "He Don't Love You" which is an old song from Levon Helm & The Hawks, a Little Feat song "Roll Um' Easy", a Sam Cooke song "(Ain't That) Good News", they also brought out Cam Neufeld from Leo's band to play fiddle on the classic The Band song "Rag Mama Rag". Amy and band looked to be having a lot of fun up on stage.
This was an amazing night of music. Good times!!!
Amy Helm.
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