Ed Helms of NBC’s “The Office” is truly inspiring to me. It is not very often when you find the Actor-turn-musician formula work out. But in the case of Helms, he was destined to be a successful candidate on both fronts. I can recall watching an episode of The Office in which Helms had a singing part. I was blown away by his talent and could tell right away that there was more to this gentleman than most television viewers realized. Now once again, I was reminded of his talent in the latest episode of The Office. Andy (character from The Office), has decided to give up his day job and pursue a career to “become famous” as an entertainer. Despite the lack of support from his co-workers, Andy was determined to follow his dreams. If you haven’t seen the episode in which I am referring to, I would recommend that you check it out. The performance segment is amazing as “Andy” picks up that Gibson acoustic and throws down a beautiful number for his co-workers.
Rolling Stone Had this to say:
Actor, comedian and banjo player Ed Helms is prepping his first bluegrass album, which he’ll record with his band Ed Helms & the Lonesome Trio, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The group, which has been playing together for about 20 years, is comprised of the Hangover and Office star’s college friends, Jacob Tilove and Ian Riggs. “We’ve been laying down some demos and kicking them back and forth,” said Helms. “We’ve been been playing together so long, we have so many original tunes. We’ve made recordings for friends and family for years but we’ve never done a proper album.”
No official word on whether the album will be released on a label, and Helms says they’re also considering direct, online methods similar to Radiohead and Louis C.K.
This weekend the L.A. Bluegrass Situation, a festival co-founded by Helms, will take place, with Ed Helms & the Lonesome Trio set to perform a handful of shows, including a variety show named the Whiskey Sour Radio Hour on Friday. On Saturday, they’ll play alongside North Carolina’s Steep Canyon Rangers and Helms’ undeniable predecessor (on both the comedy and banjo fronts), Steve Martin.
Helms noted a few of his favorite bluegrass musicians, name-checking the Del McCoury Band, Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch and the Punch Brothers.
“I have a very liberal interpretation of the word ‘bluegrass,'” he said. “The purists would say it’s only this traditional high lonesome sound and that is all stuff we celebrate. But to us it’s anything that feels like a legitimate offspring form. That universe could be Mumford & Sons, the Decemberists and Old Crow Medicine Show.”
Another great talent Helms possesses is voice over work. Here Ed Helms speaks about his involvement with Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
ED HELMS: I pursued it, actually. I made my interest known, very early on. I’m a big fan of Illumination and what they’ve done. I loved Horton Hears a Who, and Despicable Me with Steve [Carell]. So, when I heard that The Lorax was on their agenda, I asked for a meeting with Chris Meledandri, who I actually knew from some writing work I’d done for the director of Ice Age, years ago. I met with Chris and told him, “This book had a special spot on the bookshelf when I was a kid and I loved it and I would be psyched to just be a part of it, in any way. No matter how big or small, I’d just be thrilled to be on board.” And then, a couple months later, they were just starting to get the cast together and I got the offer for the Once-ler and I was actually stunned. I did not expect that.
I just found this story to be very interesting and wanted to share it. Look for more blogs soon covering this crazy industry we call “The Music Business”. I am an artist myself so I can relate with stories like this. To find out more about me, go to sheckybass.com or follow the links all over this world wide web. Google, Facebook, Reverbnation, Soundcloud Blah, Blah, Blah. You know the drill. Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you found it interesting or even remotely share-worthy, why not share it and help out a hard working artist put food in his face.
Much Love,
Shecky
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