The future of Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock has been in turmoil for months.
In May, Brian Parillo, one of the shareholders of Levon Helm Studios, Inc. - the company that manages the venue – became CEO of the company, ousting Amy Helm from her leadership role. Amy is the daughter of Levon Helm, the legendary drummer and singer for whom the venue is named.
Amy had been president of Levon Helm Studios since 2017, and the abrupt change has prompted an intense power struggle, which WAMC has covered previously. The conflict escalated earlier this week, when Levon Helm Studios, Inc. filed a lawsuit against Amy in federal court. Yesterday afternoon, WAMC obtained and reviewed a copy of it.
The lawsuit is largely comprised of a 92-paragraph narrative, told from the perspective of Levon Helm Studios Inc. attorney Peter Luccarelli, on behalf of Parillo. Most of it covers the period beginning in 2017, when Amy Helm became president of Levon Helm Studios after establishing her own musical career as a solo artist and member of the band Olabelle.
Until that point, according to the lawsuit, Levon Helm Studios had been operating at a modest annual loss – a little over $4,000 a year. But once Amy took over, the suit claims those annual losses ballooned to an average of $186,000 a year. That allegedly happened because of what the suit calls “millions of dollars in self-dealing transactions” on Amy’s part. It claims that she used money from Levon Helm Studios’ accounts to cover personal expenses like rent and insurance, and for business costs related to her touring career. The suit also questions the allegiances of Amy’s staff at Levon Helm Studios, who it claims were doing work on Amy’s behalf while drawing salaries paid by Levon Helm Studios.
The suit further alleges a “conspiracy” on the part ofAmy and the staff to conceal these practices by using obliquely titled entries in official company reports. Many debts owed to Levon Helm Studios were supposedly classified as “due from Amy,” which the suit asserts made it purposely difficult to determine the nature of the unfulfilled expenses.
The allegations amount to a charge of Amy – who sources have previously described to WAMC as fiercely committed to her father’s legacy - being a “faithless servant.” The suit seeks damages and restitution of the allegedly mishandled funds, which it estimates amount to two million dollars.
The filing further alleges that Amy committed trademark infringement. Levon Helm Studios owns the trademark on the name “The Midnight Ramble,” which is the name of a series of concerts Amy and Levon launched in 2004 to raise money for his medical bills during his treatment for throat cancer. The shows became a sensation, and are central to Levon Helm Studios’ reputation as hallowed ground for music fans. Each installment culminated in a performance of the Midnight Ramble Band, featuring Levon on drums and, often, Amy on vocals. But the lawsuit claims that the concert series was actually Parillo’s idea, and that “while Amy would perform at some Midnight Rambles as a member of Levon’s band, she did not meaningfully participate in the business and day-to-day operations required to put on the Midnight Rambles.”
In recent years, Amy has re-launched the series using the name “The Helm Family Midnight Ramble,” which the lawsuit claims is an infringement on Levon Helm Studios’ trademark of the name “The Midnight Ramble.”
Exhibit documents associated with the lawsuit purport to show that Amy tried to secure a trademark on the name “The Helm Family Midnight Ramble,” but was denied because the USPTO determined it would create confusion with “The Midnight Ramble.” Amy and her team evidently did not respond to the denial, and had continued using the name for shows at Levon Helm Studios until recently, when Parillo seized control and future Ramble shows were postponed.
The suit alsoc ontains a series of emails between Amy, her attorney, and an accountant formerly affiliated with Levon Helm Studios, which appear to show Amy expressing a desire to establish a new company that she controls, and through which she wants most of the revenue from the Ramble shows to be routed. However, it’s clear from those same emails that part of her motivation are concerns about the way her father’s estate is being managed by her stepmother, Levon’s widow Sandra Helm.
In a court filing earlier this year, Amy claimed that Sandra – who's in her late seventies – is vulnerable to manipulation. Parillo became CEO in part by convincing Sandra to transfer her voting shares in the company to him. In the filing, Amy accused Parillo of “elder abuse.”
In response to WAMC’s request for comment on the lawsuit, Parillo sent a written statement. "On May 26 of this year, LHS leadership got a transparent look at the company's financial records for the first time in several years,” he wrote. “What we found is set out in the filed complaint, and I'd rather let that document speak for itself."
Amy also sent a formal statement, writing “I unilaterally deny any and all of these baseless, spurious allegations.” She called it "extortion," and an attempt to “intimidate” her.
“My legal team finds it interesting to note that media received this filing a full day before it was received by the court,” she added - a reference to the fact that several news outlets published reports containing the details of the lawsuit yesterday morning, before it was available in the database of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
Luccarelli, Levon Helm Studios’ lawyer, told "The Overlook," a Woodstock-based publication, that the suit was filed on Monday afternoon. It was not immediately clear what accounts for the discrepancy between the filing date and the availability of the lawsuit in the database. In her statement, Amy said it’s an indication that the goal of the lawsuit is “publicity.”
