In Conversation With Colin: Helen Rose

Helen Rose has toured across the States and Europe and has worked alongside legendary musicians such as James Gadson, Benmont Tench, Jeff Peters, Russ Kunkel, and Marvin Etzioni.

 Family values and a strong sense of belonging feature heavily in the life and music of Helen Rose. Her latest album titled Rugged Elegance was recorded in Providence, Rhode Island and has a nostalgic mood embracing childhood memories that permeates throughout. However, with this most recent release Helen has come of age showcasing her talent as a direct spiritual descendent of such tough-but-sensitive singers as Emmylou and Lucinda.

 Helen’s buttery soft voice and emotive lyrics conjure places, people, memories and events that straddle her past and present. I chatted to Helen via telephone from Upstate New York where she’s just relocated.

Sounding upbeat, confident and at times nostalgic she reflects how from an early age her rich musical heritage was forged. “My dad was in a great bluegrass band called the Eight Hand String Band singing complex four part harmonies” she explains, “and they would have band practice at our house every Wednesday night, and I would just sing with them so I would show up for school a little tired Thursday morning”.

That early exposure to music led to Helen learning guitar and saxophone, but it was whilst studying as a senior in what Helen describes as an almost Hogwarts-esque art school in New Hampshire that she met fellow student and long-time collaborator Jonah Tolchin.

“I met Jonah and we started playing coffee houses together” explains Helen, “I would listen to John Lee Hooker, Bessie Smith and Steve Mann’s first recordings with Janis Joplin, that’s what I was listening to in High School and I would share them with Jonah and that music resonated on such a deep and comforting level”.

A songwriting kinship developed that has cumulated in Rugged Elegance, the songs are bathed in warmer, more soulful textures than her previous work, with a sound built around the guitar of Jonah and the subtle craftsmanship of Greg Leisz on pedal steel.

It’s obvious that one of her overriding passions is collaboration. Speaking about her latest album she raves about co-writing songs with Jonah: “Ever since Jonah started producing records I’ve wanted to work with him” enthuses Helen, “I think he has talent beyond measure and I’m very lucky that we work so well together, it’s never a struggle”.

Helen is an extremely self-effacing songwriter, often diverting attention and giving praise to others. Even though the songwriting process took a long time Helen would write the lyrics and have a basic chord structure and then present it to Jonah, “I’m a big fan of whoever has anything to say, if they are in the room having any input into the song, I’m giving them credit because the industry is so difficult that if there’s any hint of success I want all my friends and all my collaborators to have some”.

Helen continues. “Some songs I just had lyrics for but didn’t have music, ‘Wolf Tones’ was one. A lot of this album is about me wanting to pay tribute and honour to my family and ‘Wolf Tones’ is about the energy of my family, it’s like when we walk into a room we all look like characters that have travelled forward in time and are trying to fit in with modern society” she laughs. “I was taking fiddle lessons over the pandemic, and my teacher was showing me the proper way to hold the bow and what could happen if you hold it a certain way how the vibrations on the string creates a note called a wolf tone, and when I heard that I though that’s incredible and wrote the song”.

Clearly, creativity is one of the many things that Helen Rose excels at, and as her efforts confirm, sharing that creative impetus can result in a masterful collection of songs with a level of commitment to craft that few singer/songwriters ever truly attain.

COLIN PALMER