Levon Helm pickin' at the Fitz in 2009 / Star Tribune photo by Tom Wallace

The throat cancer had weakened his voice but nothing could weaken Levon Helm's spirit.

That was the case at his last two performances in the Twin Cities — in 2010 at the Minnesota Zoo (on a double bill with John Hiatt) and in 2009 at the Fitzgerald Theater.

With the Band, drummer/singer Helm had put "American" in Americana music, even though no one knew that was what the style would be called. He was the lone American, the son of music-loving Arkansas cotton farmers, in a band of Canadians. He was the guy who brought the twang, the Dixie and the authenticity to these blues-rockers. Helm died Thursday; he was 71.

I saw the Band, one of rock's more under-appreciated bands, at its two biggest gigs — Watkins Glen in front of 600,000 in 1973 and the Last Waltz in front of a few thousand in 1976 (the group's famously filmed farewell). No matter the venue, Helm's high-lonesome voice always cut through on "The Weight," "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," among others.

Seeing Helm nearly 30 years later in small venues only reenforced what an essential musicmaker he was. He had brought his latest aggregation of players from Woodstock, including his daughter Amy on vocals and guitarist Larry Campbell (who used to tour with Bob Dylan). Helm always surrounded himself with good musicians and good singers. He was the ringleader of the jam, as he proved in recent years at the so-called "midnight rambles" at his barn in Woodstock (which can be witnessed on CD and DVD).

Even though Helm sang less here in 2010 than he had the year before, his spirit and his joy of making music could not be diminished. The night in 2009 in St. Paul was quite special. Revisit it in this review.