Ed Helms Archives - Bluegrass Today

Deering auctioning three banjos for charity on Giving Tuesday

Deering Banjos has come up with a creative way to celebrate Giving Tuesday, auctioning three banjos for charity, in conjunction with several of their endorsing artists.

Giving Tuesday is a relatively new movement, launched in 2012, as an opportunity to promote charitable giving during the holiday season, set as the Tuesday following Thanksgiving weekend. Initially organized by the 92nd Street Y (Young Men’s Hebrew Association) in Manhattan and the United Nations Foundation, it has caught on quickly with people all over the world as a day to donate to causes and organizations that seek to do good in the world. Many charitable outfits are able to arrange matching funds to increase what they are able to raise on this day, which of course, is today.

Deering is partnering with Kristin Scott Benson of The Grascals, Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show and Molly Tuttle of Golden Highway, and actor/comedian Ed Helms to participate in their Giving Tuesday auctions. Each has chosen a charity that represents a cause close to their hearts, and three banjos designed by the artists and/or charities involved are being offered at auction through December 10.

The Ed Helms banjo is patterned after the Deering Artisan Goodtime Two, but custom stained with the colors of his charity of choice, Education Through Music Los Angeles, i.e., a purple resonator and neck, and a bright yellow rim.

Ketch and Molly’s is likewise based on the Artisan Two, stained in the color of the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, blue and teal, with their logo on the peghead overlay.

Kristin’s, also an Artisan Goodtime Two, is appointed to resemble the Golden Era Deering banjo that she plays, with a walnut stain and a speed neck. Proceeds from her auction will go to the Tryon Fine Arts Center and their PacJAM program.

Benson also made this brief video to explain the program she is supporting.

Each of the other endorsing artists have made similar videos about their favored charity.

These auctions are active now, using software that allows for automatic bidding. All bids received through next Sunday (12/10) will be accepted.

You can find out more about these three auctions, how to bid, the banjos in question, and the charities involved on the Deering web site.

As charitable giving can be complicated by auctions of real property, bidders are advised to consult with their tax professionals concerning any deductibility of their purchase.

And if you find yourself in the giving mood, please don’t forget the IBMA, and your regional bluegrass clubs and associations in your plans.

Billy Strings on bonus episode of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour tonight

Oops….. It appears we told you a little fib last week regarding what was to have been the final episode of Ed Helms’ Whiskey Sour Happy Hour video cast.

The weekly web series had been running for several weeks, spurred by the actor/comedian’s love for tradition-based roots music, and as a way to raise money for a pair of worthy organizations providing COVID-19 relief. During each episode, donations were accepted for MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and Direct Relief, who are working to assist music industry professionals and health care workers during the shutdown.

And last week’s was to have been the last, but as the producers were examining the additional material they had received from artists that hadn’t made it into the shows, they realized that there was enough for one more bonus episode. Which will air tonight on Facebook, YouTube, and at The Bluegrass Situation.

But you can also watch it right here at Bluegrass Today. Simply come to this page at 8:00 p.m. eastern (5:00 pacific) to watch the live stream. It will also be available on our FaceBook page. We are proud to partner with The Bluegrass Situation to promote this charitable effort, and hope everyone will watch and share a contribution.

Guests on tonight’s bonus broadcast will include flatpicking monster Billy Strings, along with Madison Cunningham, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Davíd Garza, Matt the Electrician, Valerie June, Ben Harper, and Rodney Crowell.

Anyone close to the music industry knows what a devastating impact the shutdown has had on performers, as well as the people in the support side of the business, and MusiCares has done a lot to provide relief.

Be sure to donate using this DonorBox link!

Final edition of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour airs tonight

Here’s another sign that we are coming to the end of the COVID-19 restrictions under which we have all been struggling this past few months.

Tonight marks the final edition of the Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, which Bluegrass Today is delighted to help promote alongside producers Ed Helms and The Bluegrass Situation. Helms came up with this idea a few weeks back, and has each week invited friends from both the acoustic music and comedy world to join him virtually for an hour or so of good, clean fun. The online video is presented at no charge, with donations requested for MusiCares and Direct Relief, two national charities doing COVID-19 relief.

MusiCares is an organization run by The Grammy Foundation, and they are raising funds to assist music industry professionals while live performances have been forbidden, and Direct Relief focuses on aid to health care workers, many of whom (surprisingly) have been laid off as well during the shut down.

In addition to raising money for worthy causes, Helms’ concept was to provide artists with some high profile exposure while forcibly off the road, and music lovers with some entertainment while stuck at home. Now that things are starting to re-open, it’s time to bring this series to a conclusion.

Tonight’s final show (May 13) will include performances by Chris Thile, Chris Eldridge, Molly Tuttle, Indigo Girls, Stephen Colbert, Mandy Moore, and Rosanne Cash, all recorded at home with social distancing observed. Ed will supply his comedy stylings, along with Stephen Colbert.

Like the previous editions of the Happy Hour, tonight’s will be live-streamed on Facebook, YouTube, and at The Bluegrass Situation.

But you can also watch it right here at Bluegrass Today. Simply come to this page at 8:00 p.m. eastern (5:00 Pacific) on Wednesday evenings to watch the live stream. It will also be available on our FaceBook page.

You can read more about Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, and see previous episodes, here.

And be sure to donate using this DonorBox link!

Bluegrass Today to help promote Whiskey Sour Happy Hour with Ed Helms

Bluegrass Today is happy to coordinate with Ed Helms and The Bluegrass Situation in promoting Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, Ed’s weekly online music performance and comedy series.

Helms, of course, is the actor, comedian, and banjo player famed for his work on The Office and The Hangover film series, and who is currently featured in Netflix’s comedy film, Coffee & Kareem. As a lover – and player – of folk and bluegrass music, he also has a soft spot for the artists who make their living in this field. So he has put together this new show to give them a platform while things are shutdown, and raise money for MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and Direct Relief, who are working to assist music industry professionals and health care workers during this time of restricted access.

Each Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) you can watch Whiskey Sour Happy Hour and join Helms and his guests, each performing from an isolated location, picking, singing, and telling jokes for this good cause.

Tonight’s show (May 6) will find him joined by comedian Jim Gaffigan, and musical acts Jerry Douglas, Noam Pikelny & Caitlin Canty, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, Rhiannon Giddens, and several others. Like all other Happy Hours, it will be live-streamed on Facebook, YouTube, and at The Bluegrass Situation.

But you can also watch it right here at Bluegrass Today. Simply come to this page at 8:00 p.m. eastern (5:00 pacific) on Wednesday evenings to watch the live stream. It will also be available on our FaceBook page.

You can read more about Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, and see previous episodes, here.

And be sure to donate using this DonorBox link!

Appalachia Apologia from Lonesome Trio

Ed Helms, the well-known movie and TV comic, and less-well-known banjo picker and acoustic musician, is putting the old band back together, reuniting his college group, The Lonesome Trio, and releasing a new album of original material June 16 on Sugar Hill Records.

And he assures us all that this is not a joke. Despite his having earned critical acclaim as a funny man in TV’s The Office and in the blockbuster Hangover films, The Lonesome Trio is a serious musical endeavor, one that began when Ed was attending Oberlin College as an undergraduate. There he met and became acquainted with fellow acoustic, folk, and bluegrass lovers Ian Riggs, and Jacob Tilove, and they began loosely performing together as Weedkiller.

After graduating, they reassembled in New York City pursuing separate career paths, and began writing music together and appearing as The Lonesome Trio. And now, 22 years after first meeting in Ohio, it’s time for an album and a tour.

Sugar Hill is releasing this sneak peak audio for one of the tracks, a clever song of regret called Appalachia Apologia. Pre-order sales begin tomorrow in iTunes, and everyone who orders the CD in advance will receive this track as an instant download.

Tour dates begin June 4 with a show at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA, with other stops scheduled at bluegrass hotspots in Boston, Nashville, Atlanta and more. There’s also a performance at Bonnaroo on June 14, where Helms typically sponsors a stage dedicated to modern acoustic music, often with a grassy flavor.

You can check for additional dates on The Lonesome Trio web site.

Sam and Del at The Sitch

Our friends at The Bluegrass Situation have posted this charming video of Sam Bush and Del McCoury, recorded prior to their debut duet show at The Birchmere back on November 18.

It captures the two old friends backstage before the show, and during soundcheck, trading quips and licks all the while.

The Bluegrass Situation site is an online outgrowth of funnyman and banjo picker Ed Helms’ annual music event of the same name. They primarily cover the LA acoustic and bluegrass scene, but hope to expand this year into other markets under the able direction of Amy Reitnouer.

More banjo on The Office

On this past week’s edition of the popular NBC television program, The Office, the character portrayed by Ed Helms (Andy) once again broke out the old five string to entertain his officemates. If you check out the video below, you’ll see that they don’t necessarily appreciate his playing or his enthusiasm all that well.

It wasn’t the first time his banjo has appeared on the show, but it is the first time he has picked a bluegrass tune. Andy even gives a shout out to Flatt & Scruggs.

Helms has been something of a public banjo evangelist of late, using the celebrity he has earned since his breakout role in The Hangover, to promote bluegrass and banjo music. He helped Noam Pikelny create an hilarious video with Steve Martin to promote Noam’s Beat The Devil And Carry A Rail album when it was released in October 2011. If you haven’t watched it, by all means click over and do so.

Ed also puts on an annual bluegrass/old time/Americana festival in Los Angeles billed as the L.A. Bluegrass Situation. Held the past three years in early May, it features modern bluegrass and string bands more apt to appeal to audiences not yet steeped in the tradition.

During World of Bluegrass last month we met Amy Reitnouer, who recently brought her Bluegrass LA blog into Helms’ orbit. Her site offers club and concert listings in the area, plus interviews, photos and videos about the local bluegrass/Americana scene, now a part of The Bluegrass Situation online.

Details were slim, but Amy suggested that we’ll be seeing Ed be more prominent in music after this final season of The Office concludes next Spring.

And now, the video… The banjo bit comes in the episode’s final minute. If you prefer to skip straight to this segment, simply click the play button, enjoy a few messages from NBC’s sponsors, and then the click on the last vertical divider in the status bar.

Thanks to Jason McKenree (a mighty fine banjo picker, himself) for the head’s up.

Funny… or what?

Noted comedian and banjo picker Ed Helms, he of The Hangover and The Office fame, has created another clever video for Funny Or Die featuring his banjo pickin’ persona.

You may recall the hilarious spoof he did with Noam Pikelny when Noam’s Beat The Devil And Carry A Rail CD hit last Fall.

This new video finds Ed infiltrating deep into the bowels of Hollywood from the hills of Appalachia.

Or is it the other way ’round?

Don’t sing it, Noam

Noam Pikelny’s new banjo album, Beat The Devil and Carry A Rail, drops tomorrow (10/25), and we will run an interview with Noam at that time. But it turns out there’s more to this project than meets the eye.

Thanks to a new behind-the-scenes video at Funny Or Die, we learn the intriguing back story of how Noam has originally intended to serve as featured vocalist on the new CD as well, and how his particularly sour singing led to dissension, depression, and ultimately murder.

In addition to Pikelny, the 7 minute film includes appearances from Earl Scruggs, Béla Fleck, Steve Martin, Chris Thile and banjo-playing comic actor Ed Helms.

Bluegrass Diva with Steve Martin, Ed Helms and Noam Pikelny from Steve Martin

Brilliant… It’s not to be missed.

Ed Helms and Lonesome Trio

Ed Helms has gotten our attention before when he did a little picking on The Office. He’s got a new movie heading to the big screen, and again he’ll be injecting some music into the role. NPR invited Helms into the studio about a week ago and he brought his band with him. Yes, a bluegrass band, Lonesome Trio. Well, he did bring one special guest with him, Chris Eldridge on guitar!

The February 10, 2011 of Fresh Air, features Ed Helms and Lonesome Trio performing the bluegrass standard Please Search Your Heart.

They discuss his love for bluegrass music, along with his new movie Cedar Rapids. The conversation turns to his singing during his acting roles, and from there to performance in general. Helms shares this little nugget concerning stage fright.

“I get staggering stage fright when I play music. I don’t know what it is. I’ve done stand-up comedy for 15 years, and I can step in front of 2,000 people in a college auditorium and just chat for an hour. But if you put an instrument in my hand — a guitar or a banjo — I desperately want to share it with people, but I have some stage fright. It makes the technical act of playing difficult. That’s something I’ve always struggled with.”

I think most of us can sympathize with his experience. Listen the show and check out his version of Please Search Your Heart and you’ll hear that Ed has no reason to lack confidence.

Here’s a YouTube clip of Lonesome Trio performing a tune call All Gone to Hell.