The Band - Members' Other Endeavors

Members' Other Endeavors

In 1977, Rick Danko released his eponymous debut solo album, which featured the other four members of The Band on various tracks. In 1984, Danko joined members of the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and others in the huge touring company that made up "The Byrds Twenty-Year Celebration." Several members of the band performed solo songs to start the show including Danko who performed "Mystery Train". Danko also released a number of additional solo albums.

After he left The Band, Robbie Robertson became a music producer and wrote film soundtracks (including acting as music supervisor for several of Scorsese's films) before a highly praised comeback with a Daniel Lanois produced, eponymous solo album in 1987. He released a second solo album, Storyville, in 1991 and another album in 2011. He also released a newly remixed version of the already heavily overdubbed The Last Waltz.

Helm received many plaudits for his acting debut in Coal Miner's Daughter, a biographical film about Loretta Lynn, and for his narration and small supporting role opposite Sam Shepard in 1983's The Right Stuff. He has appeared in small roles in a number of other films. In the late 70s and 80s, Helm released several solo albums and toured with a band called Levon Helm and the RCO Allstars. In 2007 Helm released a new album, a homage to his southern roots called Dirt Farmer, which was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album on February 9, 2008. Electric Dirt followed in 2009 and won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Americana Album. His 2011 live album Ramble at the Ryman was nominated in the same category and won. Helm regularly performed Midnight Ramble concerts at his home and studio in Woodstock, New York, and toured.

Hudson played keyboards on the first three albums by The Call. Hudson has released two acclaimed solo CDs, The Sea To The North in 2001, and LIVE at the WOLF in 2005, both featuring his wife, Maud, on vocals. He has also kept busy as an in-demand studio musician. He is featured extensively on recordings of Country/Indie star Neko Case. Hudson contributed an original electronic score to an Off-Broadway production of Dragon Slayers, written by Stanley Keyes and directed by Brad Mays in 1986 at the Union Square Theatre in New York, which was re-staged with a new cast in Los Angeles in 1990. In 2010, Hudson released Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of The Band featuring Canadian artists covering songs that were recorded by The Band. Participants included Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies, The Trews, Great Big Sea, Hawksley Workman, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida, Ian Thornley, The Sadies, Suzie McNeil, Kevin Hearn, Danny Brooks, Peter Katz and The Road Hammers.