On That Note
Welcome to “On That Note,” a rock-and-roll-centered column that will dive into the big stories, trends, and crazy ideas coming out of the music industry.
“Someone asked him what he thought about having a viral moment, and he said, ‘We must really have our finger on the pulse of the nation.’ So that was his comment about it.”
Photo: Courtesy of Donald Fagen
There was only one correct reaction to seeing Donald Fagen reappear in the passenger seat of a social-media video last month: Is there gas in the car?
The clip, posted by Fagen’s stepdaughter, Amy Helm — whose mother, the singer-songwriter Libby Titus, was married to Fagen until her death in late 2024 — was meant to draw attention to a few tickets still available for the Helm Family Midnight Ramble, a frequent community gathering for live music in Woodstock, New York. (It was created in tribute to her father, Levon Helm, the drummer and beautifully rugged vocalist for the Band.) Fagen’s nonchalant cameo, though, got the Steely Dan community in a tizzy. There he is, sitting pretty, chewing gum and looking like a major dude in a pair of sunglasses. Weeks later, Helm posted another video, this time with Fagen looking even more unbothered and checking an imaginary watch. The trilogy concluded on April 1 with Fagen scribbling an inscrutable equation on the car window until, again, taking a break to consult an invisible timepiece on his wrist. The three videos are barely over 60 seconds combined and provide more entertainment value than your favorite foreign movie. But it also served as an update of sorts for Fagen, who has eschewed public life since Titus’s passing and whose whereabouts were uncertain. So, how’s our man doing?
“He’s doing fantastic. He’s living up here in Woodstock full time,” Helm told me on a sunny afternoon this week. “We’ve been playing a lot of music. He’s enjoying his retirement. He’s playing piano and singing the occasional rock-and-roll cover with our family band at the Midnight Ramble, and we’re having a great time. He’s working on music with my son as well. They’re working on an album, and that’s been fun. So it’s a nice time for the family.”
During our chat, Helm was killing time in her car before picking up Fagen for a drive. She says she made the first video for the Midnight Ramble in the comfort of her vehicle because, simply, she lost track of time, and Fagen happened to be riding shotgun. “I was on a deadline to get the video in, and I told him to hang on a second before we pulled out of a parking lot,” she explains. “I was like, ‘Let me just quickly get this video done.’ And he was like, Yeah, ‘I’ll make it with you.’ That’s how they began.”
It took Helm a few days to realize the impact of Fagen’s appearance outside of the normal Midnight Ramble audience. “The funny thing is that there was so much response in the comments on Instagram,” she notes. “I’m barely on Instagram, and Donald doesn’t have it. So all of a sudden friends were texting me and letting me know that it was really resonating with Steely Dan fans. I thought that was really sweet and funny.” With performances planned well into 2026, Helm is certain a fourth video will be a necessity. “We’ll see what Donald comes up with,” she says. “Someone asked him what he thought about having a viral moment, and he said, ‘We must really have our finger on the pulse of the nation.’ So that was his comment about it.”
Fagen last performed as Steely Dan in March 2024, when his band opened for the Eagles on their ongoing farewell tour and somehow refused to play “Everything You Did” to mark the occasion. (Real fans know.) Fagen was forced to miss a few gigs due to a hospitalization in late 2023. While there are no current plans for him to return to the road as Steely Dan, don’t give up hope yet of hearing “My Old School” live one last time. “Right now he’s really enjoying being retired and not having any expectations or pressure,” Helm explains. “We drive around, we listen to music, and he picks fun covers for us to try at the Midnight Ramble. He’s just enjoying the downtime, but I guess you never know. Every artist has their seasons and what they want to lean into, so who knows.”
Helm and Fagen have recently enjoyed working on arrangements for Bob Dylan’s “Rita May,” as well as two collaborative songs Dylan did with the Band during their Basement Tapes sessions, “This Wheel’s on Fire” and “I Shall Be Released.” Fagen does a particularly groovy cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Out of Time,” too, in case you were curious. “His singing is so great. It’s so incredible to hear him sing some of the Band stuff, because the Midnight Rambles focus on Band material as well as the greater American rock-and-roll canon,” Helm says, noting that Fagen’s take on “I Shall Be Released” is the standout of the bunch. “He makes that one sound breathtakingly good. Just so moving and powerful,” she adds. “Even knowing him and being his stepdaughter, it’s kind of arresting to hear him sing that stuff. His voice is so beautiful.”
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