From the release of his 2007 comeback record, Dirt Farmer, up until the final moments of his life, Levon Helm seemed impervious to death. It’s not that he looked invincible, necessarily, or that he was suddenly filled with an inordinate amount of vitality. But as he neared his end, Helm carried himself with the same [...]

(note: i’m on the cross-country road trip for six weeks doing research on a book about memphis and the delta blues trail. car jamming is recurring feature that documents random curios along the way) Yesterday morning, after leaving the Shack Up Inn, we crossed over the Mississippi river into Helena, Arkansas, the once bustling port-town [...]

Speaking of Levon Helm, late last year the man released Dirt Farmer, his first album in twenty-five years. A truly instinctive drummer, and one of the most recognizable voices of rock & roll, Helm nearly lost his ability to speak, let alone sing, after battling throat cancer a few years back. Now on the mend [...]