“Women’s voices, shouting their stories and speaking the truth,” is the theme of Amy Helm’s new album Silver City. It’s a theme, though, that arose after the death of one of her fans.

“A young woman named Katie used to come to my shows,” Helm explains to me. “I only met her twice: first, in the throes of her drug addiction, and then, eight months later, sober and beautiful, radiant with pride. She died of a fentanyl overdose a year later during the COVID lockdown. I was hit hard with the memory of her innocence and hope. I hated the drug dealer, and I hated the hard world and the senseless loss. I wrote a song for her, trying to grapple with it, trying to honor her. Once Katie’s song dropped in, the rest of the songs seemed to rush forward. I saw myself, and so many others, in her.”

Silver City is Helm’s fourth solo album, and she began writing its songs about 2 ½ years ago with no theme or shared narrative in mind.

“The songs began to emerge with a common thread as letters to other women whose stories had moved me,” Helm says. “This album felt different than my previous ones. It felt more connected to whatever it is that invites us into the world of storytelling.”

I mention that Silver City is apparently a very personal album. Among other song lyrics, Helm writes about a painful divorce and a former mate who is now a friend.

The title song, ‘Silver City,’ was a painful song to write,” she says. “I had to go back to the very toughest days of my divorce and face some of it again.  I don’t think I could have written that song till now, with time and healing in place. My ex-husband is now a dear friend of mine, and his wife is a wonderful stepmother to our boys. They have a beautiful 5-year old named Elroy, and our blended family is something I’m really proud to be part of!”

The song “If I Was King” is a partly fictionalized narrative about Helm’s great-grandmother.

“Her story was lost to the family,” Helm said in the bio for Silver City. “They were dirt-poor sharecroppers, and she started having kids when she was 14. She had married this fire-and-brimstone preacher, who banished her from home and her children.”

Helm said she wrote “If I Was King” as a rumination on the ways women have long been told by someone else how to live their lives. After finishing the song, she began to see the album as a series of letters. “All of these songs were me speaking to somebody — either reaching out and asking questions, or asking them to reach back to me,” Helm said in the bio.

The song “Mount Guardian” is an examination of single parenting.

“I was by myself for upwards of 10 years,” Hell said in the bio, “running myself ragged on the road, getting home at three in the morning and grabbing a box of mac and cheese from the gas station for the next night’s dinner, waking up at seven and doing it again. I felt victorious any time I got my kids to school on time with lunch in hand. When I look back on that now, it was such a beautiful time but also hectic and intense. I think, ‘How the hell did I even do that?’ Honestly, I think this whole record is about different ways that I’ve tried to keep pressing on.”

In April, Helm and her band played a warmup show at The Falcon, a club in Marlborough, New York, before heading off to the New Orleans Jazz Festival and shows in Europe. I tell Helm that I have always been impressed with her musicianship and was floored by her and the band’s performance at The Falcon. I felt that her singing had become so compelling, and her music had elevated to a plane once occupied by her late dad Levon Helm and the Band.

“It’s a funny thing being a musician,” Helm replied. “You’ll have what feels like the worst gig you’ve ever played and then get a compliment like this one about the show! The band and I were stressed that night, scrambling to get the new material together and wishing we had more time to prepare. Truth is we never know what moves someone and who we’ll reach just by trying.  I think that goes for just about everything.  If we show up with a good spirit and try our best, things seem to work out!”

During the soundcheck before The Falcon show, Helm jumped behind the drums and started pounding away, but then didn’t play drums during the show. I wondered whether her actions were a one-off that night, or did she often warm up before a show by hitting the drums.

“I play drums at gigs once in a while,” she says. “But I almost always prepare how I’m going to sing a song by getting behind the kit first. I practice new songs by sitting at the drum set and playing a simplified version of whatever tune it is — holding time and finding how I want to approach the phasing and the attack of certain words.”   

Levon Helm, a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, was probably best known for his work as the Band’s drummer, but he was also a talented singer, songwriter, mandolin player and producer. I ask Helm how she views her dad’s drumming skills. How were they different, and how did they compare to other great rock and roll drummers?

“My dad’s drumming was one of a kind and shaped generations of players!” she responds. “Every time I meet a drummer who shares with me how my father has influenced them, it really moves me. I know how it would touch his heart to hear those accolades. My dad was a drummer through and through, and he thought that all drummers everywhere should be treated like royalty! He was right, they should! We carry on that tradition at The Barn.”

The Barn is Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York, where Amy was born and grew up. Concerts are regularly held in The Barn, a venue where many famous rock musicians have performed and played with or without Levon or Amy, and where she recorded Silver City.

Helm began her professional recording career singing backup vocals on a 1993 album by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan. She then was a founding member of Ollabelle, a band praised by critics that released its first album in 2004. Ollabelle, which also included Glenn Patscha, Byron Isaacs, Tony Leone and Fiona McBain, reunited for a handful of live shows this past summer to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band’s first album.

Many concertgoers have fond memories of Ollabelle’s shows, so I ask Amy which concert she witnessed as a spectator was the best one.

“Choosing one is impossible!” she replies. “Some of the best I’ve seen this year are Emily King, Madison Cunningham, Sarah Jarosz, Ida, Tyrone Cotton, Pony Bradshaw, The Paper Kites, Bonny Light Horseman, Alpha Consumer.”

Helm similarly cannot pick the best album she ever listened to.

“I’d barely be able to skinny it down to 20,” she responds. “But here are some of the albums I’ve been listening to lately:  Los Lobos’ ‘Kiki,’ Tracy Chapman’s self-titled album, Jim Croce’s ‘Greatest Hits,’ a Sarah Vaughan compilation, Bonny Light Horseman’s ‘Rolling Golden Holy’ and Fruit Bats’ ‘Echolocation.’”

Helm loves so many other musicians’ albums, but her foremost love may be the rhythms of Woodstock and its residents.

“Woodstock is a beautiful small town with a strong community of supportive and kind people,” she says. “I’ve learned how to be a better friend from living here and watching how others practice patience and kindness. From the grocery store to the gas station, school pickups and the cafes, it’s a good vibe!”