Levon Helm – Ramble at the Ryman PBS special

Unparalleled Group of Musicians Join Helm for an Historic Evening

photo by Paul LaRaia

On most Saturday nights since January 2004, Levon Helm has hosted evenings of music at the “barn,” his home studio in Woodstock, New York. These magical nights are called The Midnight Ramble Sessions. On September 17, 2008, Helm took the Midnight Ramble on the road to one of America’s treasured venues, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, where ­ accompanied by such luminaries as Buddy Miller, John Hiatt, Sheryl Crow and Sam Bush ­ the Levon Helm Band gave birth to a night of stage magic. Captured in pristine high definition LEVON HELM – RAMBLE AT THE RYMAN is part of special programming airing on PBS in August 2009 (check local listings).

The performance is a veritable tour through the American songbook, featuring tunes from Helm’s tenure with The Band, as well as selections from the 2008 Grammy winning Electric Dirt and classics from artists such as Chuck Berry, the Carter Family and more.

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Sonny Landreth’s “Levee Town” Album to Be Reissued with Five Previously Unreleased Tracks on Landfall Records

Originally released in 2000, the album features guests John Hiatt, Bonnie Raitt and Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil

BREAUX BRIDGE, La. ­ Sonny Landreth’s 2000 release Levee Town, originally issued on Sugar Hill Records, will be reissued on April 21, 2009 on Landreth’s own Landfall Records, distributed by Ryko through Virtual Label. The re-mastered reissue will contain five previously unreleased tracks from the original sessions (“Pedal To Metal,” “Road A Plenty,” “Old Flame,” “Fare You Well” and a co-write with Will Jennings, “For Who We Are (The Nightbird Sings),” with guest Jennifer Warnes. This album is a poetic tale of life in Lousiana, mixing myth and mojo to conjure up music that rocks hard and runs deep. The album features such guests as Bonnie Raitt, John Hiatt and BeauSoleil’s Michael Doucet.

“Along with the two records that preceded it (Outward Bound, 1992; and South of I-10, 1995), I feel like Levee Town was part of a three–album trilogy,” Landreth says. “I wanted to dig even deeper into the built-in mythology and mystery of the Deep South. It’s really inspirational to live here. And the deeper I go, the more inspired I get.”

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Americana Music Association Announces Top 100 of 2008

Monday December 15^th marked the year ending chart for 2008 and with this chart, we are excited to announce that our friends at Amazon.com will be posting our Top Ten on the Americana Landing Page moving forward into the New Year.  Visit our landing page and click on the Airplay Chart box on the right hand side of the page to see what’s hot.

Also, today we announce the Annual Americana Top 100 albums. The Top Ten most played records, as charted on the Americana Airplay Chart include:

1. Hayes Carll
2. James McMurtry
3. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
4. Steve Earle
5. Tift Merritt
6. Ryan Bingham
7. John Hiatt
8. Band of Heathens
9. Levon Helm
10. Alejandro Escovedo

Click here to view the full Top 100!

We have had a great year; our chart remains a fixture at R&R Magazine and with its placement in other periodicals like Rolling Stone Magazine and Country (in the UK) the americana movement continues to grow.

Submitted by Jed Hilly, executive director, the Americana Music Association

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