Amy Helm Salutes Women’s Voices And Reveals Her Woodstock Faves
Tourists have flocked to Woodstock, New York since the late 1960s, when word got out that rock stars and other musicians had moved there, and the town lent its name to the biggest event in rock music history, 1969's Woodstock Music & Art Fair. Musician Amy Helm was born a year later in Woodstock and has seen the town's popularity grow. Today, she only has warmth for visitors and reveals to them her favorite things locally and in the Hudson River Valley.
"Woodstock is a beautiful small town with a strong community of supportive and kind people," says Helm, who just released a new album Silver City, her fourth solo album. "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 to cafes, it's a good vibe!"
The town in the Catskill Mountains has also, for many decades, had a countercultual and artsy vibe. Many first-time visitors, though, are unaware that the legendary Woodstock music festival, which attracted nearly a half million people and spawned the Woodstock Generation, was held nearly 60 miles, and a 90-minute drive away, from the town of Woodstock.
Tourists are welcome, because they help "sustain a lot of business in the area," says Helm, who recorded the new album at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock. "So I stay positive about it, and I avoid town on the weekends!"
Helm's late dad, drummer Levon Helm, was a long-time Woodstock resident who played at the 1969 Woodstock festival as a member of the Band and is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Her mother Libby Titus was a singer and songwriter who recorded two albums and was the co-writer with Eric Kaz of "Love Has No Pride," a song popularized by Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt and others.
Amy Helm began her recording career singing backup vocals on a 1993 album by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan and then was a founding member of Ollabelle, a band praised by critics that released its first album in 2004.
Helm's don't-miss list for Woodstock tourists includes dinner at the Pines and Pearl Moon's jazz brunch. The Pines, located about 10 miles west of Woodstock in Mount Tremper, serves dinner Thursday-Sunday and presents live music with a limited menu on Wednesday. The dinner menu includes cucumber avocado soup, chicken schnitzel and pork chop with butternut squash purée, broccolini and confit tomatoes.
Pearl Moon, located on Woodstock's Mill Hill Road, will host its next jazz brunch Sunday with no cover charge for the performance of the Tillson Jazz Ensemble. A blues brunch is scheduled for the following Sunday, and the restaurant offers live music various evenings.
Helm's other food-related hints are a cappucino from Caffè, ice cream at Stewart's and "a perfect slice of coconut cake from Overlook Bakery." The bakery, which bakes everything in-house, is named after Overlook Mountain, the 3,140-foot mountain that towers above Woodstock. Caffè, founded by a brother and sister from Woodstock, has two Woodstock locations and offers Italian coffee, dessert items, sandwiches and quiches.
Travelers might also want to consider Helm's places to relax and unwind outside Woodstock in the Hudson River Valley.
In Kingston, she recommends buying a book and ordering a maple latte at Rough Draft, a bar and bookstore, and getting a facial at Maria Vera. In Accord, she points to eating dinner at Inness, which also offers lodging in a 12-room farmhouse or 28 cabins. And, about 27 miles northwest of Woodstock, she recommends skiers head for Bellayre Mountain. During the summer and early fall, Bellayre Mountain also offers gondola rides, a disc golf course and a climbing wall.
Helm recommends visitors shop at the "many incredible women-owned businesses in Woodstock." The shops align with the "women's voices" theme of her new album — "women whispering, singing, shouting their stories, speaking the truth."
