John Mayer, Dierks Bentley to play Levon Helm benefit concert
Musicians from Westchester and the Hudson Valley
John Mayer, Gregg Allman, Dierks Bentley and several other musicians are getting together to pay tribute to the late Levon Helm.
The "Love for Levon" benefit concert will be held Oct. 3 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. It will include performances from such artists as My Morning Jacket, Ray LaMontagne, Eric Church, Patty Griffin, Bruce Hornsby, Mavis Staples and Joe Walsh.
The influential Grammy-winning singer and drummer for The Band died of throat cancer earlier this year at age 71.
Tickets go on sale to the public Aug. 29. Proceeds from the concert will support Helm's Woodstock estate and his Midnight Ramble concerts.
Helm drummed and sang with The Band at the legendary Woodstock Arts and Music Festival in 1969, and the town also became his home. Beset by debt, in 2004 he began a series of freewheeling late night shows in his barn in Woodstock that were patterned after medicine shows from his youth.
The Levon Helm Band -- featuring Helm, his daughter, Amy, and fellow veteran musicians -- headlined these Midnight Ramble concerts, which encouraged “everyone to bring food or a side dish for our community table for all to share.”
Don Was and Larry Campbell will serve as co-musical directors for the tribute concert. Other performers will include Warren Haynes, John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams and Marc Cohn.
-With Chris Serico
