In the fall of 2019, after months of touring, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, celebrated with a jubilant live recording at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY and big plans for the following year. The pandemic changed everything, globally and close to home: Larry, after performing at New York’s Beacon Theatre woke up on March 16th in Woodstock coughing and feverish. After a diagnosis of Covid, he was left to quarantine alone in Woodstock while Teresa was stuck quarantined and worrying in New York City. After a harrowing couple of weeks Larry’s fever broke. "For the past two weeks, I’ve been struggling to stay alive," Larry told Rolling Stone magazine.
Fast forward to fall 2022: Larry and Teresa rejoined their audiences “live and in person,” planning the rollout of the long delayed Live at Levon’s! To be released by Royal Potato Family on Feb 3rd, 2023, the album is a souvenir for fans of the duo’s powerful live shows and features unreleased new songs, old favorites that allow the band to stretch out plus some unexpected cover tunes.
As accomplished as they are in the studio, onstage is where it all comes together for Larry & Teresa. “I’ll never forget the first time I experienced this as a child and knew my lot in life was set,” says Teresa. “The only reason I am a singer is because of the indefinable spark that happens with the giving and receiving of your most intimate selves, back and forth, between the artist on stage and the audience there in the room. The only reason. If I can’t see the audience because of lighting, it almost becomes even more spiritual, because it’s all just feeling them — us together in the moment. And each performance/audience has its own personality. If you can drop the thinking and just ‘be’ with them and this sharing of your most intimate selves, there’s no describing the transcendence. Recording is only an excuse to get to bring the material to a live audience.”
Larry adds, “This thing that Teresa and I do, though born on the back porch in Tennessee, was honed for public consumption during the wonderful years we spent making music in Levon's barn. There's magic between those wooden walls, a comfortable environment where there's no distance between performer and audience. Any event in there is a complete communal experience where there's no hierarchy, no pressure or attempt at inhibition, just a great place to enjoy all the benefits of music making. When the idea came up for us to do a live record there was no question as to what the venue should be."
Joining Larry and Teresa are longtime friends and stellar musicians: on bass, tuba and harmony vocals is Jesse Murphy a gifted improviser who also provides a rock-solid foundation. Justin Guip has held the drummer’s chair with Larry & Teresa since their earliest shows and has recorded and mixed all their albums since their self-titled debut. Special guest, Levon Helm alumnus and member of The Weight Band, Brian Mitchell rounds out the group on keyboards, accordion, and harmonica.
Larry, Teresa and band have a reputation for a high level of musicality on full display on Live at Levon’s! with warmth, joy and spontaneity jumping out of the grooves of the album. No matter which genre they’re swimming in, this band knows how to rock, swing and shred without overpowering the songs. Larry, a world class guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, has revealed himself as a songwriting force, while Teresa’s vocal performances offer up her trademark fragility and ferocity, as she interprets each lyric with emotional nuance and raw honesty.
In Larry and Teresa’s Amazon series It Was the Music, when asked about performing onstage, R&B legend William Bell reflects: “When they come to see a show, take ‘em to another place.” Live at Levon’s! does just that, and Larry and Teresa hope that you enjoy the journey.
credits
released February 3, 2023
Recorded live at Levon Helm Studios Woodstock, NY
Larry Campbell vocals, guitars, mandolin, fiddle, pedal steel
Teresa Williams vocals, guitar
Justin Guip drums, percussion
Jesse Murphy vocals, bass, tuba
Brian Mitchell vocals, keyboards, accordion, harmonica
Produced by Larry Campbell
Mixed by Justin Guip at Milan Hill Studios
Recording Engineer: Pete Hanlon
Assistant Engineer: Connor Milton
Live FOH mix: George Cowan
Mastering: Dave McNair
Photography: Jim Rice, Gregg Roth
Cover Art: Mike Dubois
Layout: Naomi Graphics
Management: Mark McKenna/Bandshell Artists
Special thanks: Sandra Dodd Helm, Drew Frankel and all at Levon Helm Studios, Pete Hanlon, Connor Milton, George Cowan, Jim Rice, Mike DuBois, Kevin Calabro, Naomi Schmidt
supported by 15 fans who also own “Live At Levon's!”
1st time i heard DeathWish, i turned it off.
felt rushed, not the Isbell i've come to admire. really grab'd me when i took time to listen on the 2nd try. the writing on these songs stopped me in my tracks more than once. raw talent with just enough polish in the delivery.
thankyou Jason + 400 for another keeper swirlingmadness
Cara Beth Satalino's delicately melodic yet resilient indie folk songs sparkle with lyrical wit and hard-won wisdom. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 10, 2024
West Virginia country-folk singer-songwriter Trae Sheehan aims to find a balance between the traditional and the modern on his new LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 29, 2020
supported by 11 fans who also own “Live At Levon's!”
The best I've heard from Steve Earle in a while. The songs have a subtler, earthier tone, tastefully rendered in authentic sounding country/blues/bluegrass stylings. 'J.T' reminds of earlier records like 'Feel Alright' or 'Train a Comin'.
Deep grief, love and compassion is felt on the final track, the only composition from Steve, seemingly written for his son. The rest, composed by JT, do confirm what a great songwriter he really was. tideracer