Hendrik Helmer

Hendrik Helmer is a German-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer based in New York City. He has collaborated with artists including Carly Simon, Paul Shaffer, John Patitucci, Carmine Rojas, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Ferrone, Oz Noy, and Madonna, and has worked with a wide range of international performers across pop, jazz, and blues genres. He has also taught at the Juilliard School.

Early life and education Helmer studied music in the Netherlands for six years before relocating to New York City in 1998. Details about his early musical influences include jazz and classical guitar training and exposure to both European and American classic rock, jazz, and blues traditions. He was picked by the Dutch percussionist Nippy Noya to be a part of the Berklee College of Music seminar in Epe, Germany, in 1996.

At age 15, Helmer began performing weekly at the Pink Piano in Osnabrück, Germany, where he had the opportunity to play alongside visiting American blues musicians. These formative performances introduced him to artists who would later become significant collaborators in his musical development.

In his teenage years, Helmer's passion for live performance led him to collaborate with a number of noted blues artists, including Gary Wiggins, Louisiana Red, Eddie C. Campbell, Big Jay McNeely, Jean Carroll, and Angela Brown. These early collaborations helped establish Helmer's foundation as a versatile live performer with deep roots in blues and soul traditions.

Between 1995 and 1997, Helmer toured extensively throughout France, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands with percussionist Nippy Noya, performing numerous live shows including a notable concert at Paradiso in Amsterdam, which featured René Engels on drums.

Career Building on his early experiences performing alongside blues and jazz legends, Helmer went on to establish himself as a versatile guitarist, composer, and producer within the New York City music scene.

He has worked, performed, and recorded with artists including Amber, Carly Simon, Wyclef Jean, Maxwell, and Paul Shaffer. Helmer's career spans both live performance and studio recording sessions, blending his blues foundation with pop, rock, and soul influences.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Helmer remained an active presence in New York's recording and performance circuit. He contributed to albums with artists such as Marie-Claire Cremers (Amber), Carmen Browne, and Greer Baxter, and played on the benefit compilation Listen (A Benefit Album for Our Time), which also featured Carly Simon, Daryl Hall, Ann Hampton Callaway, Blue Man Group, and Mandy Patinkin.

From 2008 to 2014, Helmer collaborated with the Our Time Company, performing at special events and workshops alongside prominent actors such as Edie Falco, Victor Garber, Paul Rudd, Sam Rockwell, and British comedian John Oliver. In 2005, he also coached actor Oscar Isaac during a three-month rehearsal at the Juilliard School for Isaac's final performance piece, The American Occupation, directed by Trip Cull.

In 2012, Helmer released his EP Tales of Lost Love, which received a five-star rating from AllMusic and was described as "thoughtfully crafted" with a "reflective and almost cinematic quality." He made his Carnegie Hall debut on June 14, 2014.

Since 2015, Helmer has worked as a private guitar instructor for high-profile clients, including Madonna’s children, Rocco Ritchie and David Banda, and, in 2023, English actress Mickey Sumner, daughter of Sting. One of Helmer's longtime students, Sarah Solovay, won the John Mayer Songwriting Competition in 2008 for her single "Gone".

On December 31, 2025, Helmer was interviewed by radio presenter by Musicologist Dr. Holger Hettinger on Deutschlandfunk Kultur's program Musik im Gespräch, discussing the climate for cultural professionals in the United States.

In addition to his extensive session work, Helmer has released solo albums and EPs showcasing his skills as a composer, arranger, and bandleader.

Recent work In 2018, Helmer collaborated with Michele Bettencourt on the album New Normal. In 2025, he produced, wrote, and recorded a follow-up project with Bettencourt in New York City titled Vampire Time, released on Licorice Pizza Records in Los Angeles. The release was supported by the single Everybody Loves a Circus, with coverage in New Music Radio Network describing Helmer as an "accomplished guitarist in New York City" and one of the exceptional musicians involved in the project.

The single also received chart recognition. It debuted at number 28 on the Independent Music Network Mainstream Top 30 Countdown, was listed among the most-added tracks on National Radio Hits AC40 with 11 reporting stations, and appeared on New Music Weekly's "Up & Coming" list with five station adds. The recent single Gilded Age hits number one in the top 40 internet charts in July of 2026. In 2025 Helmer also recorded his 4th studio album FOR HARRY which featured drum icon Vinnie Colaiuta on drums on 4 songs.

Additional reporting in Airplay Access emphasized Bettencourt's early collaboration with Helmer, noting that she "joined forces with Hendrik Helmer, an accomplished guitarist in New York City" to record New Normal, which, although never marketed or distributed, was described as "as timely now as it was then."

Drummer Andy Parker of UFO also referenced Helmer as part of the production team for Vampire Time, alongside Everett Bradley, Steve Ferrone, and Kerry Brown.

Recognition

In 2025, Helmer contributed to the single "Everybody Loves a Circus" by Michele Bettencourt & Vampire Time, which received the Independent Music Network (IMN) Award for Mainstream Breakout Single.

In 2000, Helmer received a documentary film award in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, for Go With the Flow, a film that was produced by Karl Wortmann through the production company Ikon3film.

Discography

Album releases Year Title Notes Reference 1998 How Little We Know Kawomusic record label — 1999 Hugging Perfekt Stranger Studio album; Kawomusic — 2010 Life in the Loop Studio album 2010 Love You From Afar Single 2012 Tales of Lost Love EP 2018 New Normal (with Michele Bettencourt) EP 2020 Carousel (Keith Ward) EP 2019 Push You Away, Bags Half Packed (Greer Baxter) Co-production — 2020 My Way Life at Rockwood Musical (Keith Ward) Live 2005 You Move Me Amber — 2005 Voodoo Amber — 2007 My Name is Rasulus Rasulus — 2007 Palladium II: Horses On Mars Palladium — 2008 Listen (A Benefit Album for Our Time) Various (Carly Simon, Daryl Hall, John Forté, Skylar Grey aka Holly Brook, Ann Hampton Callaway, Blue Man Group, Mandy Patinkin) — 2009 Primetime Eddie Bishai — 2010 Holedelic Everett Bradley — 2010 You're the Same As Me Gigi Fouquet 2011 Red Light Kiku Collins — 2011 Bethesda Sasha Di Bona — 2014 Cloud Ballet EP Carmen Browne — 2015 Carmen Browne Carmen Browne — 2016 Something there Devonne B — 2018 Crawling On My Hands Matthew Curran — 2019 Everything to Me Keith Ward — 2019 Believe Devonee B. — 2019 Talkin' 'Bout You and Me Henry Dee — 2021 Life Is for the Living Glenn Kidd Guitar, co-producer and engineer 2024 Can't Find the Time Henry Dee — 2024 Underachive Dallas Connors — 2024 Lover Girl Luzc Ellis — 2024 Design Her Luzc Ellis — 2025 Boundaries Luzc Ellis — 2025 Vampire Time Michele Bettencourt 2025 Chaffeur Fawn Segerson — 2025 Across Your Pillow Frank Basile — 2025 Aug. 21st Shawn Cortel 2025 Get Her Baby Yungin