by James Cassara –
Sometimes a musician’s reputation is built around the names he or she has worked with.
As such Larry Campbell is one of the most respected and envied artists of his day. The multi-instrumentalist-vocalist has worked with a veritable who’s who of the music world.
Both on stage and in the studio Campbell has plied his trade with such icons as Bob Dylan—with whom he toured for eight years—Paul Simon, Little Feat, Emmylou Harris, Hot Tuna, Sheryl Crow, Mavis Staples, and many others. He remains most proud of his tenure with the late Levon Helm, for whom Campbell acted as both musical director and career resurrection champion. His wife and musical partner Teresa Williams is not as well known but has, via her work with Campbell and her own support and solo efforts, carved a formidable niche in Americana music.
The pair is now stepping out into new territory, releasing their self titled debut album (on Red House Records) and assembling a band that best expresses their musical ideas. Produced by Campbell, the eleven new tracks-eight originals and a trio of covers—distill their influences into an effective and infectious blend of Americana style and timeless soul, offered with a relaxed generosity that can only come from decades of playing together.
The couple’s story begins at New York’s famed Bottom Line club in the mid 80s; Williams was singing country songs while Campbell was playing pedal steel. “It was love at first chord,” jokes Campbell. “She was the real deal, none of that Urban Cowboy nonsense. And she was clock-stopping gorgeous and I was smitten.” The feeling was evidently mutual, adds Williams.
“I’d thought the idea of a country music player in New York was an oxymoron. But he saved my life on that stage. I thanked him for bringing the heavy steel down to play just a few songs, and when we looked into each other’s eyes I saw everything he is, the depth of his soul.” They married soon after, setting off on their own individual highways, but always circling back to each other.
Among other adventures, Williams originated the role of country music pioneer Sara Carter in the stage musical Keep On the Sunny Side, while Campbell achieved renown as the go-to roots music guy who could master a dizzying array of stringed instruments and styles.
The seeds for a duet project were unwittingly planted in those early days; the two would sing and play with the local musicians under her great-great grandmother’s Tennessee cedar tree, the same one under which they married. (These gatherings continue to this day.)
Later, when the duo was song-swapping all night with the band in the back of Bob Dylan’s tour bus, Dylan’s longtime manager Jeff Kramer told them they were “crazy not to make hay with what they had as a duo.”
Unfortunately their schedules kept the idea on the back burner until 2005, when Levon Helm called. He’d beaten cancer, was recharged as never before, and was putting together a band for the soon-to-be legendary Midnight Ramble at his barn-studio in Woodstock, NY. He wanted some Campbell-Williams magic to help make the most of his surprise fourth act. This humble beginning—playing in a barn on a dirt road—inaugurated the greatest musical experience of their lives.
Campbell became the levelheaded leader of the shape-shifting Midnight Ramble Band, earning a trio of Grammys for producing Helm’s final three albums; Williams, as an essential band member, frequently brought the house down.
The new record is an extension of that time, featuring material honed on the carpet of Helm’s barn, under the gaze of grateful fans. Songs like the Muscle Shoals-inflected opener “Surrender to Love,” heart-wrenching ballad “Another One More Time,” and boot-stomper “Bad Luck Charm,” feature the distinctive texture of two entwining voices who’ve been through a lot together—the good, the bad, and the joyous.
“It was the most pure musical experience I’ve ever had,” Larry says of their time with Helm. “It gave me the template for how to make music for the rest of my life: no egos, no agenda, and no petty stuff. I looked forward to every gig I ever did with him, I loved doing it, and when it was over I couldn’t wait for the next one. I got inspired to write more songs for us to work up.”
“I don’t remember a time not singing in front of people,” Williams adds. “I sang in church, at school, everywhere, but I didn’t know anything about making records. And that’s were Larry was able to step in.”
Following Helm’s 2012 passing, they grieved, celebrated his life, and got to work finishing the record. They had the tunes, and with drummer (and recording engineer) Justin Guip and Ramble Band member Byron Isaacs on bass, they had a tight road-worthy band. Additionally, a list of talented friends sweetened the pot considerably: Helm’s daughter Amy on vocals, Little Feat co-founder Bill Payne on piano, and the last recorded work of Levon Helm himself.
Make no mistake, this duo not only brings a lot to the table, they bring the table itself—plus the house, the still, the church, the marriage bed, the sawdust-covered floor, and abiding, unconditional love, all carried in two voices harmonizing across hills, hollers, porches, and fire escapes. Those close harmonies ride atop music made in a mountain refuge, far from the madding crowd, connected to a spirit that lives on in song.
If You Go: Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams on Friday, July 24, 2015. Doors open at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $15 in advance and $18 day of for this all ages seated show. The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., Asheville. Call (828) 232-5800 or visit www.thegreyeagle.com