Ollabelle is a New York–based

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

group named after the influential

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

n songwriter Ola Belle Reed. The group is composed of five singing multi-instrumentalists hailing from disparate parts of the United States, Canada and Australia.Biography
ollabellemusic.com (accessed August 18, 2008)

History

Ollabelle formed during the post-

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

days of 2001 at Sunday night

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

sessions humorously dubbed "Sunday School for Sinners" held in a small bar called 9C (so named for its location at the corner of East 9th Street and Avenue C on Manhattan's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

). Their individual talents and musical tastes fused together to provide a unique musical experience influenced by various genres such as gospel, traditional/folk,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, bluegrass,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and even

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. The group was featured on the

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

program

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

in a 2004 segment,"The Southern Sound of Ollabelle"
''

'',

, March 23, 2004 and was part of bluegrass/country artist

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

' national Great High Mountain Tour (2004) which in addition to Ms. Krauss also featured the revered American traditional artist Ralph Stanley. The past several years have seen Ollabelle on the road touring many states including

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, several European countries, and they have also played at the 2004

Newport Folk Festival The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder Geor ...

, the 2007

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

music event held annually in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

MerleFest MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College. The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, was hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson prior to ...

, (2008). More recently, Ollabelle toured as part of "The American Beauty Project" a live presentation of songs from the classic

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

album '' American Beauty'' in which Ollabelle do their interpretations of several songs including the beautiful "Brokedown Palace". The American Beauty Project released a 2-CD live recording in 2007 featuring Ollabelle, Jim Lauderdale, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Catherine Russell & David Gans. Ollabelle served as the house band for the

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

tribute show at New York's Central Park Summerstage in June 2010. Ollabelle's members continually add traditional and original material to their live performances. Ollabelle's first album ('' Ollabelle'') was produced by the legendary

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. Burnett has won several Grammy Awards for his work on film sou ...

while their second album ('' Riverside Battle Songs'') was co-produced with former

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

sideman Larry Campbell. Several members of Ollabelle guest on the 2006 album by American folk-blues artist Chris Smither entitled '' Leave the Light On'' and 2009 has seen the release of Before This Time an album culled from live performances featuring both old and new material. Two members of Ollabelle, vocalist/mandola player Amy Helm and bassist/vocalist Byron Isaacs, are regular members of the

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Hel ...

Band (the late Levon Helm was Amy's father) and perform at Levon's Midnight Ramble concerts. Other Ollabelle members have occasionally joined up with the Levon Helm Band, including Tony Leone, who sometimes sat in on drums with the band while Levon Helm stepped out front and played mandolin. Since leaving Ollabelle, Jimi Zhivago has focused on a solo career, as well as production for other artists. Most notably, he has recorded multiple times with singer-songwriter Kim Taylor, including 2006's ''I Feel Like a Fading Light'' and 2010's ''Little Miracle'' EP. Since 2013, bassist Byron Isaacs has been the touring bassist and backing vocalist for

The Lumineers The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing to ...

, and has appeared on three of their albums, ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'', '' III'' and '' Brightside''. He has also released a solo album, ''Disappearing Man''.

Members

Ollabelle consists of (as pictured left to right): * Amy Helm – vocals, mandola *Glenn Patscha – vocals, keyboards, accordion *Byron Isaacs – vocals, bass, guitar, dobro *Fiona McBain – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass * Tony Leone – vocals, drums, percussion, mandolin Former member *Jimi Zhivago – electric guitar, vocals

Discography

*'' Ollabelle'' (2004) *'' Riverside Battle Songs'' (2006) *''Before This Time'' (2009) *''Neon Blue Bird'' (2011)

References

External links

*
Ollabelle

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel
Glenn Patscha's personal website

Amy Helm's personal website

Byron Isaacs's personal website
{{Authority control American folk musical groups