Levon Helm Studios sued musician Amy Helm and seven other defendants in federal court Monday, alleging that she used company money to support her personal life and music career, concealed financial transactions from other shareholders, and caused the Woodstock venue to sustain at least $2 million in damages.

The lawsuit also alleges that Amy Helm, a Woodstock resident, encouraged show cancellations in an effort to inflict financial losses that could impede the studio’s ongoing investigation into her activities. More than 15 shows at Levon Helm Studios, nearly the entire upcoming calendar, have been canceled. Eilen Jewell on Nov. 20, AJ Lee & Blue Summit, with The Cody Sisters, on Nov. 21, and Foy Vance on April 29, 2027, remain on the schedule.

The 61-page complaint provides the most detailed account yet of the financial allegations behind the struggle over the studio founded by Amy Helm’s father in the 1970s. The lawsuit marks a new turn in the dispute that has consumed Levon Helm Studios for months.

Amy Helm’s father was Levon Helm, the late drummer and singer for The Band, who was a three-time Grammy winner as a solo musician and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

The lawsuit brings 13 claims, including federal trademark infringement, unfair competition, breach of fiduciary duty, accounting malpractice, and interference with the studio’s performance contracts.

It seeks monetary and punitive damages, the repayment of compensation, and an order barring Amy Helm and several other defendants from using “The Helm Family Midnight Ramble” name.

The lawsuit alleges that Amy Helm engaged in millions of dollars in “self-dealing transactions” while serving as president of Levon Helm Studios. Those transactions included about $400,000 charged to Levon Helm Studios “with no apparent business purpose,” according to the civil complaint.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court Monday afternoon, said Peter Luccarelli, managing partner of the New York office of Brightpoint Law, the legal firm representing Levon Helm Studios.

A representative for Amy Helm couldn’t provide a comment at this time, and said she was preparing a response.

The disputed expenses included cash withdrawals, rent on Amy Helm’s home, personal tax repayments, health and life insurance, payments to her driver and personal attorney, and the lease on her touring van.

Levon Helm Studios also alleges that the disputed charges included credit card expenses connected to Amy Helm’s work as a touring musician, including gas, meals, and hotels, as well as personal loans and loans obtained for her other companies, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

Approximately $167,000 of those charges remained listed in the studio’s records as “Due from Amy,” the complaint says.

The lawsuit further alleges that Amy Helm withdrew a $10,000 loan Levon Helm Studios obtained from the federal Small Business Administration, or SBA, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The studio’s new management, under the leadership of longtime shareholder Brian Parillo, continues to review the studio’s books and records from Amy Helm’s tenure as president, the lawsuit says.

The review has identified nearly $200,000 in what the complaint describes as “unauthorized loans” obtained from Levon Helm’s estate and businesses related to it.

Approximately half of those loans came from Dirt Farmer Music LLC, an entity established to distribute royalties from Levon Helm’s final two studio albums, “Dirt Farmer” and “Electric Dirt,” and his live album, “Ramble at the Ryman,” to musicians who performed on the recordings. Each album won a Grammy Award.

The transfers left Dirt Farmer Music unable to distribute royalties for approximately four years, the lawsuit alleges. Within 30 days of becoming president, according to the filing, Parillo flagged the issue and returned more than $35,000 taken from Dirt Farmer to the estate.

The complaint also identifies approximately $1.3 million in salaries paid to Amy Helm and three office employees during her tenure. It alleges that the three employees worked part time for Levon Helm Studios while receiving salaries as full-time employees. The complaint further alleges that much of that compensation went to Amy Helm and employees who spent much of their working time conducting business for Amy Helm and her other companies while being paid by Levon Helm Studios.

The complaint says Levon Helm Studios recovered emails and found correspondence showing that employees had performed work for Amy Helm and her companies while on the studio’s payroll.

Levon Helm Studios, known as The Barn, is a 250-person venue that generally stages six to eight performances a month, an operating schedule that the complaint says didn’t justify such high administrative costs, the lawsuit says. 

The complaint says Amy Helm received an annual salary of approximately $90,000 in 2023, despite performing “almost no services for LHS beyond performing at concerts at The Barn, for which she was separately compensated.” 

Levon Helm Studios lost approximately $308,000 in 2022 and more than $277,000 in 2023, according to the complaint, bringing its combined losses for the two years to nearly $600,000.

The filing also states that the studio’s apparent profitability in 2021 resulted solely from hundreds of thousands of dollars it received from the federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program during the pandemic. Without those grant funds, the complaint alleges, the studio lost twice as much money in 2021 as it did in 2020, when pandemic restrictions had largely closed the venue.

In 2017, Levon Helm Studios recorded about $120,000 in gross profit but incurred approximately $134,000 in additional expenses, resulting in a net loss of about $14,000, according to the complaint. By 2022, gross profit had risen to about $344,000, while additional expenses had climbed to about $652,000, producing a net loss of approximately $308,000.

By 2022, gross profit had reached about $344,000, while expenses had climbed to about $652,000, according to the complaint.

Gross profit, as used in the complaint, refers to revenue remaining after the direct costs of staging shows, including day-of-show staff and security. It does not represent net profit, which accounts for all expenses.

The complaint alleges that personal expenses, administrative salaries, and other conflicted transactions contributed substantially to the losses.

The Midnight Ramble Name

A separate part of the lawsuit concerns the “Midnight Ramble” name, which Levon Helm Studios registered as a federal service mark in 2011.

The studio alleges that Amy Helm began performing under the name “The Helm Family Midnight Ramble” at The Barn in December 2022 without authorization from the company.

In July 2023, Helm moved to create a company with “Helm Family Midnight Ramble” in its name, according to emails quoted in the complaint.

The Helm Family Midnight Ramble LLC was formed in October 2023. The complaint says Amy Helm is its sole member.

In subsequent emails quoted in the filing, Amy Helm wrote that the performances had generated approximately $53,000 for Levon Helm Studios that year but that she didn’t want the profits to go into what she characterized as a financial “black hole.”

The lawsuit alleges that Amy Helm wanted income from the performances deposited into a company controlled solely by her. At the time, she was receiving an annual salary of approximately $90,000 from Levon Helm Studios in addition to artist fees, according to the filing.

An application to register “The Helm Family Midnight Ramble” as a federal trademark was filed in November 2023. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused registration in June 2024 because the name was likely to be confused with the studio’s existing “Midnight Ramble” mark, according to the complaint.

The application was abandoned that October. The lawsuit alleges that Amy Helm nevertheless continued performing under the name.

Levon Helm Studios sent a cease-and-desist letter on June 10. Approximately one week later, Amy Helm changed the group’s name to “The Helm Family Ramble Band,” according to the filing.

The lawsuit accuses Amy Helm and The Helm Family Midnight Ramble LLC of federal trademark infringement.

Levon Helm Studios is asking the court to prohibit the defendants from using “The Helm Family Midnight Ramble” or any other name likely to be confused with “Midnight Ramble.” It also seeks profits associated with the contested name and the destruction of promotional materials, recordings, merchandise, signage, and advertisements bearing it.

Cancellations Deepen the Dispute

The complaint also alleges that Amy Helm damaged Levon Helm Studios by publicizing the management dispute and encouraging musicians and vendors to cancel contracts, resulting in lost revenue and ticket refunds.

The lawsuit alleges that Amy Helm knew the company had already spent much of the money it received for upcoming performances. It claims she encouraged cancellations in an effort to drain the studio’s remaining resources and prevent it from funding its investigation or pursuing its claims in court.

The complaint doesn’t identify any musician, agent, or vendor whom Amy Helm allegedly contacted.

This is a developing story.

John W. Barry is a reporter for The Overlook. Reach him at john@theoverlooknews.com.

Noah Eckstein is the editor-in-chief of The Overlook. Send correspondence to noah@theoverlooknews.com.