If there could be such a thing as royalty in the oh-so-democratic realm of Americana music, Levon Helm would certainly have a throne of his own. As drummer and frequent vocalist for the Band, which almost single-handedly put the “roots” into rock by merging country, blues, bluegrass, folk and even a little funk, his place in rock history is chiseled in granite. But Helm didn’t rest on his laurels after the Band’s infamous demise. After fighting back from a nearly fatal bout of throat cancer, he started hosting intimate Midnight Ramble concerts in a converted-barn studio at his home in Woodstock, N.Y. (the same town where the Band’s Music from Big Pink was recorded). The shows have become legendary; artists from Allen Toussaint to Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris and even Austin’s Pinetop Perkins have trekked to his bucolic digs for you-had-to-be-there jam sessions. Helm eventually became strong enough to make his first solo album in 25 years, 2007’s Dirt Farmer. It earned him a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album, and in 2008, he was named the Americana Music Association’s Artist of the Year. Helm, who ranked no. 91 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, is scheduled to release his second album this June.