Amy Helm

Schedule

Thu Jan 23 2025 at 08:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

600 14th Street NW Washington DC 20005 | Washington, DC

DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 PM | SHOW BEGINS AT 8:00 PM

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive pre-sale promo codes! [https://app.hive.co/l/3p38kz]


AMY HELM

When creating her fourth album, the soulful and reflective Silver City, Amy Helm was guided by her North Star: women’s voices. “Women whispering, singing, shouting their stories - speaking the truth. I wanted to dig into that inherited narrative and reach for what I could.” The epistolary anthology is a collection of conversations that travel through time, exploring and celebrating womanhood in all its complexities. Silver City blends the folk twang of Helm’s childhood with gospel and soul, drawing inspiration from varied stories: the life of Helm’s great-grandmother, the story of a young fan struggling with substance abuse, Helm’s own life as a single mother and hard-touring singer.


The album was recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York, with two core groups of musicians, both anchored by producer Josh Kaufman. Helm notes that this project brought out a different approach in her vocals. “Every time I've made a record, I’ve tried to give my strongest performance,” she says. “This time, I wasn’t thinking about the performance. I was rooted in the stories.”


Silver City began with a story that didn’t end upmaking the album. Helm wrote “Young Katie” to a young fan of hers who died of an overdose. “I began the song as sort of a letter to her,” she says, “and it just started to flow; the words weren’t even coming from me. And then the rest of the songs started to come through.” Helm says. The songs on this record are like letters, written to younger versions of Helm, or to other women she’s known. She continues, “‘Young Katie’ didn't fit conversationally with the rest of them, but it was the muse for this album.”


One crucial moment is “If I Was King,” a partly fictionalized narrative about Helm’s great-grandmother. “Her story was lost to the family,” she says. “They were dirt poor sharecroppers and she started having kids when she was 14. She had married this fire-and-brimstone preacher, who banished her from home and from her children.” Amy, wishing to hear her voice and story, wrote “If I Was King” as a rumination on the ways women have long been told by someone else how to live their lives. It was after finishing this song that she began to see this album as a series of letters: “All of these songs were me speaking to somebody—either reaching out and asking questions, or asking them to reach back to me.”


Several songs address the realities of her immediate family.“ ‘Silver City’ was painful to write, about the grief of divorce,” she says. “I don't think I could have written that song til I was way on the other side of it. I have a really healthy, lovely blended family and my ex-husband is a really dear friend of mine now. It's a very cool thing that we all worked hard at, and that I’m really proud of.”


“Mount Guardian” is a close examination of single parenting. “I was by myself for upwards of 10 years,” says Helm, “running myself ragged on the road, getting home at three in the morning and grabbing a box of mac and cheese from the gas station for the next night's dinner, waking up at seven and doing it again. I felt victorious any time I got my kids to school on time with lunch in hand. When I look back on that now, it was such a beautiful time, but also hectic and intense. I think, ‘How the hell did I even do that?’ Honestly, I think this whole record is about different ways that I’ve tried to keep pressing on.”


Elsewhere on Silver City, Helm opens up her lens to consider trauma, loss, and human frailty. “The song ‘Amen, Anyway’ is about a lot of things,” she says, “but it's very much about being paralyzed with the fear of not being good enough and lacking faith in ourselves. It’s also about being surrounded by people who handle that with drugs and alcohol—it's about losing people to that.”


With Silver City, Amy Helm shares the lessons she’s gathered from a remarkable life as an artist, mother, daughter, woman, as someone who has worked, evolved, and persevered. “No one talks about the beauty of age,” she says. “Shame and fear are so common to so many of us, and to get through that and feel ourselves change is the most beautiful thing about getting older. It's incredible to lookback at things and celebrate how we’ve survived.” With this album, Helm embraces this strength of transformation through her powerful, story-rooted performances.


These stories, complex and real, show Amy as she is. Reflected in the illustration on the Silver City cover art, Amy is surrounded by the messes her kids make, her cast-off high-heeled boots, and a crooked crown, but she’s also where she should be: on her throne, gazing into the future.




For any wheelchair or ADA needs, please contact the Box Office in advance of the performance at (202)-787-1000.
All tickets are general admission (GA). Seats cannot be reserved in advance. We recommend that you arrive early to secure your favorite seats within your section. You may hold one (1) seat for a friend arriving later. Every guest requires a ticket.

Where is it happening?

600 14th Street NW Washington DC 20005, 600 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005-2002, United States,Washington D.C.
The Hamilton Live

Host or Publisher The Hamilton Live

It's more fun with friends. Share with friends

Discover More Events in Washington

Thu Jan 23 2025 at 04:30 pm Feminist Mixer Capitol Campus

5th Floor Faculty Lounge, McDonough Hall

Porridge Radio at The Atlantis
Thu Jan 23 2025 at 06:30 pm Porridge Radio at The Atlantis

The Atlantis

The Pocket Presents: gum.mp3
Thu Jan 23 2025 at 07:00 pm The Pocket Presents: gum.mp3

The Pocket

MUSIC ART
Fresh Fiction Book Club: Martyr!
Thu Jan 23 2025 at 07:00 pm Fresh Fiction Book Club: Martyr!

Kramers

ART LITERARY-ART
2025 Mid-Atlantic Commercial Real Estate Conference
Fri Jan 24 2025 at 08:00 am 2025 Mid-Atlantic Commercial Real Estate Conference

The City Club of Washington, DC

BUSINESS CONFERENCES
2025 Mid-Atlantic CCIM Chapter Commercial Real Estate Conference
Fri Jan 24 2025 at 08:00 am 2025 Mid-Atlantic CCIM Chapter Commercial Real Estate Conference

The City Club of Washington

BUSINESS CONFERENCES
Mosaico
Fri Jan 24 2025 at 11:00 am Mosaico

Dupont Underground

ART EXHIBITIONS
The Electric Grandmother, BASSMASTERS, AJ & the Kids, Jester & the Mad Pranksters, & DJ Johnny Panic
Fri Jan 24 2025 at 07:00 pm The Electric Grandmother, BASSMASTERS, AJ & the Kids, Jester & the Mad Pranksters, & DJ Johnny Panic

Atlas Brew Works

MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Walking Tour: The Lost History of Frederick Douglass in Old Anacostia
Sun Nov 04 2018 at 09:00 am Walking Tour: The Lost History of Frederick Douglass in Old Anacostia

Visitor Center -- Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

ART LITERARY-ART
Walking Tour of Frederick Douglass Murals in Old Anacostia
Sat May 04 2019 at 09:30 am Walking Tour of Frederick Douglass Murals in Old Anacostia

Anacostia Metro Station

ART LITERARY-ART
Walking Tour: Lost History of Frederick Douglass in Capitol Hill
Sat Sep 28 2019 at 10:00 am Walking Tour: Lost History of Frederick Douglass in Capitol Hill

Library of Congress, Jefferson Building 1st St and Independence Ave SE Washington, DC 20540

ART LITERARY-ART
Lost History: The Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy in Old Anacostia
Sun Nov 08 2020 at 09:30 am Lost History: The Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy in Old Anacostia

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

TRIPS-ADVENTURES ART
DC's  Master The Art Of Brow Threading,Shaping, & Henna Brow (30% OFF)
Sun Feb 28 2021 at 10:00 am DC's Master The Art Of Brow Threading,Shaping, & Henna Brow (30% OFF)

1625 Wisconsin Ave NW

WORKSHOPS ART
MINDSHOP\u2122 REPLAY| DESIGN THINKING IN 3 STEPS
Wed Mar 31 2021 at 07:00 pm MINDSHOP™ REPLAY| DESIGN THINKING IN 3 STEPS

PRE-RECORDED

ART HEALTH-WELLNESS
Washington DC  Machine Shading, Powder, Ombr\u00e9 + Combination Brows.
Sun Aug 01 2021 at 11:00 am Washington DC Machine Shading, Powder, Ombré + Combination Brows.

1625 Wisconsin Ave NW

WORKSHOPS ART
Saint Fridays w\/OPEN BAR (Afrobeats; Soca; Hip Hop; Dancehall)
Fri Aug 06 2021 at 09:00 pm Saint Fridays w/OPEN BAR (Afrobeats; Soca; Hip Hop; Dancehall)

Saint Yves

ENTERTAINMENT DANCE
Meditation & Music Medicine - Sound Healing Journey
Thu Aug 12 2021 at 07:00 pm Meditation & Music Medicine - Sound Healing Journey

Eaton DC

HEALTH-WELLNESS MEDITATION
2024 - Franciscan Monastery  of the Holy Land Tour
Sun Oct 17 2021 at 12:00 pm 2024 - Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land Tour

Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America

ART NONPROFIT
The Secret Show at Room 808
Thu Oct 21 2021 at 08:30 pm The Secret Show at Room 808

Room 808

COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT
SNL at Rosebar Saturdays
Sat Oct 23 2021 at 10:00 pm SNL at Rosebar Saturdays

Rosebar Lounge

ENTERTAINMENT PARTIES

What's Happening Next in Washington?

Discover Washington Events