Helen is a classically trained pianist and cellist who threw it all away to play blues, boogie woogie, and bluegrass. She's currently playing honky-tonk piano in a vintage Country/Rockabilly band, Three On the Tree, and dusting off her cello in a brand new, acoustic start-up, Reckless William.
Helen's early blues influences were Hot Tuna, Reverend Gary Davis, Little Willie Littlefield, Katie Webster, and Memphis Slim. Her performing career started out in 1986 as a folk singer guitarist playing some small clubs around the San Francisco Bay Area. Eventually, she added piano to her act, and started playing larger venues, local concerts, and festivals. In 1990, thanks to the recommendation of a DJ at KVMR radio station in Nevada City, she opened for Bo Diddley to a crowd of 10,000 at the Sacramento Blues Festival. She has also played at clubs such as the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley and The Palms in Davis, where she opened for artists including John Hammond, John Hartford, Little Charlie & the Night Cats, and the Cajun band Beausolieu.
