Ollabelle

What once began as a collective of musicians gathering on the Lower East Side of post-9/11 New York City now enters 2024 a supergroup.

For years they were everyone’s favorite group in waiting. Like The Byrds, like The Band, like Fairport Convention before them, Ollabelle reconfigured roots music, in their case taking early American gospel, folk and mountain music and dragging it into the future with the utmost respect and the utmost abandon.

Imagine Sun Ra’s music interpreted by The Staple Singers. Or The Doc Watson's music performed by Sly and The Family Stone. Their music has always been joyful and exhilarating, and has earned them the respect of fellow musicians: T Bone Burnett signed them to his own imprint on Sony; Richard Thompson booked them for Britain’s Meltdown Festival; Elvis Costello, Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris, Allison Krauss, Larry Campbell and Levon Helm (Amy’s father, and the spiritual godfather of Ollabelle) all took turns sitting in with them. The band’s residencies at Banjo Jim’s, at Levon’s Ramble and at City Winery were jaw-dropping performances. There was nothing they couldn’t do well, and there was no one who didn’t want to share the stage with them. At one memorable gig on the lower east side, Dr. John, Levon Helm, Norah Jones, and Donald Fagen were all crowded around the stage, cheering them on.

Now Glenn Patscha plays with Bonnie Raitt, Byron Isaacs plays with the Lumineers, Tony Leone plays with Little Feat, Amy Helm has a thriving solo career and Fiona McBain has been singing and recording with her duo The Nine Seas. Ollabelle may be a part of their past, but it’s also an inescapable part of their future as they gather again to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut album, Ollabelle.