Lyte + Levon Helm Studios: Celebrating history, embracing partnership, and improving the patron experience
If you ever see an artist perform at the historic Levon Helm Studios, you’ll notice that the venue feels like it’s nestled inside someone’s house — because it is.
The venue’s namesake, legendary drummer Levon Helm, built his dream home in Woodstock, New York in 1975 and included a recording studio, where he held jam sessions and recorded with his musician friends. It was where he spent all of his time working, playing, and living.
Today, Levon Helm Studios is still a recording studio, but it’s also an intimate venue with a 250-fan capacity. Artists who are accustomed to playing before hundreds of thousands of fans clamor to perform there.
“Artists really want to come to our venue,” says Drew Frankel, Levon Helm Studios’ general manager. “Our shows sell, and many of them sell out pretty quickly. It’s a truly amazing venue.”
Levon Helm Studios + Lyte
Levon Helm Studios is a Lyte partner. With roughly 70 shows a year, Frankel says the Lyte platform has been crucial in managing the venue’s waitlists.
“Lyte ensures that folks who are buying tickets after a show has sold out are getting real tickets instead of getting scammed,” Frankel says. “Before Lyte, we were managing our own waitlist and it was a huge time commitment for our staff.”
More than 2,500 discerning music fans have been served by the partnership in the less than five months since it began in April 2019. Exchanges currently running include Midnight Ramble Band, Rising Appalachia, and Courtney Barnett. Check out those exchanges and more here.
“Lyte has given us a chance to introduce more fans to the magic of this venue,” Frankel says. “It’s a concert in the round and a very untraditional experience. We don’t have a bar and we don’t serve food. You drive down this long dirt driveway and check in next to the fire pits. We are happy to be able to share it.”
Adds Lawrence Peryer, Lyte’s Head of Business and Corporate Development: “From my first conversation with Drew on through the rollout of our partnership, he has emphasized the quality of the patron experience. With an impeccably curated schedule, gorgeous location and facility, and a focus on art over commerce, I have appreciated the Levon Helm Studios ethos for years. We are a better company for having Drew and his team as partners.”
The Levon Helm Story
As the drummer and singer for the Band, Levon Helm’s voice and musical style brought to life a generation’s take on Americana and rock n’ roll throughout the 1960s and 70s. The Band played at Woodstock and recorded 10 albums together before parting ways in 1977.
Helm and his fellow bandmates fell in love with the town of Woodstock itself over the years. Helm loved the vibe and its feeling of community.
“We all had that hometown feeling about the area,” he once said. “The town took in the band and treated us like favorite sons. If someone asked, ‘Is the band in town, they could be talking about us. That’s how the town actually gave us our name.”
Helm and his musician friends continued to perform and record at his home and studio until a fire all but destroyed it in 1991. A determined Helm rebuilt, though, and found that the new studio made recordings sound even better than it had before.
In 2007, Helm’s solo album, “Dirt Farmer,” won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Rolling Stone ranked him №91 in its list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time a year later.
Helm died of throat cancer in 2012. He had urged his family to keep the music going after he was gone. Today, musicians from all over the world perform and record at Levon Helm Studios. Helm’s widow still lives in the house.
In 2016, Rolling Stone published its Top 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time. Helm was ranked 22nd.
“It’s a real honor to be managing this room and do my best to keep Levon’s legacy alive,” Frankel says. “In addition to presenting artists associated with Levon and his legacy,, we are making a concerted effort to bring in new artists and a new audience who may discover Levon and his music as a result of coming to see their favorite band at our venue.”
About Levon Helm Studios
Home of Levon’s legendary Midnight Rambles — and situated on 18 acres in historic Woodstock, New York — Levon Helm Studios welcomes artists for intimate concerts, recording sessions, rehearsals, writing retreats, and private events.
The Barn was constructed in 1975 from local hemlock, pine, and bluestone. Levon designed and acoustically engineered the space himself, and it stands today as a one-of-a-kind musical landmark.
Levon Helm Studios is located in the heart of the Hudson Valley & Catskill Mountains.
About Lyte
Lyte makes it easier for fans to go to more live events. Founded in New York City and San Francisco by CEO Ant Taylor, our killer fan feature is returnability. In an industry where a “no refunds and no cancellations” policy is the standard, Lyte enables fans to return their event tickets, no questions asked, to the official point of purchase.
Lyte also provides a safe and official reservation booking system, offering fans who sign up a fair price for in-demand tickets. One hundred percent of the tickets bought and sold through Lyte are issued through our ticketing partners and delivered directly to fans. Lyte has delivered millions in fan savings — $1.8 million in 2018 alone. It’s only getting better from here, thanks to our growing partnerships with bands, venues, promoters, ticketers and festivals.
For the industry, we function as a full inventory management solution, including a private-label secondary market to optimize event yield for event producers. Visit lyte.com.
