There is no place on earth that Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams feel more comfortable than onstage at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. For almost 10 years, Larry & Teresa were staples of Helm’s Midnight Ramble band, playing countless shows at “The Barn.” So when it came time to record their own live album, it was a no brainer as to where to set up shop for 2 nights to record. Recorded on September 20 & 21, 2019 after returning to Woodstock from months of touring, Live At Levon’s! [out now on Royal Potato Family] gathers the best performances from those 2 shows on a sonically pristine live collection that crackles with both energy & spirit. The album gives us Larry & Teresa delivering originals like “Angel Of Darkness,” “Surrender To Love,” & “It Ain’t Gonna Be A Good Night,” along with their renditions of songs like “Darling Be Home Soon” (The Lovin’ Spoonful), “Caravan” (Duke Ellington) & “Big River” (Johnny Cash).
Of course, Larry was a member of Bob Dylan‘s “Never Ending Tour” band from March 31, 1997, until November 21, 2004. Through his association with Dylan’s bass player Tony Garnier, Campbell joined the band, replacing John Jackson as a guitarist, and expanded the role to multi-instrumentalist, playing instruments such as cittern, violin/fiddle, pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, and slide guitar. We don’t have enough room to discuss all the great folks he, and they have worked with or produced, but in our conversation this time around, we do talk about our mutual friend, Mr. Jorma Kaukonen – as one of the new tunes has a story behind it, of course it does and we also discuss Larry & Teresa’s participation on the new tribute album to the great Eric Andersen. We spend a bunch of time discussing the new album, as a live album with these two really shows off all you get when they are in a room sharing music. That’s part of this chat as well. Being toGether. Folks here near the Madison, WI area will get to hang with Larry and Teresa March 21 at the Stoughton Opera House with Shawn Mullins. WOW., so we paint a tiny picture of what that could look and feel like. We have talked many times over the years, but this time on the heels of this live record makes me feel complete. The true experience is out there to go get SUM of.
