Austin, TX-based bluegrass band The Gourds will release their first major label debut on Vanguard Records with the help of former Bob Dylan band member and current Levon Helm Band guitarist Larry Campbell. Old Mad Joy was recorded in Levon Helms’ famed barn in Woodstock, the site of his “Midnight Rambles,” and is scheduled for release on September 13. “Larry just got so excited, and it was infectious.” says Gourds guitarist Kevin Russell. “For a guy like him to act like that toward us is flattering and inspiring. He became Coach Campbell, rearranging the songs and challenging us to play things we didn’t think we could play. He was like a preacher up on his pulpit. He’d just be waving wildly with his eyes squinted closed, and he was literally conducting us. It was a magical time.”