Levon Helm Studios, a warm, intimate music venue tucked into a barn in Woodstock, is hands-down one of the best places to see live music in New York.

Levon Helm, the drummer and one of the vocalists for The Band, designed the Barn with acoustics in mind, so there might be a scientific reason for why every song sounds so big and warm and beautiful in this landmark room. Maybe it’s the materials that were used to construct the Barn in 1975—local bluestone, hemlock, and pine—or maybe it’s the vaulted shape of the space or just a particularly excellent sound system.

I like to think that all the artists who’ve graced this stage, from David Crosby, Mavis Staples, and Emmylou Harris to My Morning Jacket, Lucinda Williams, and Steve Earle have left behind a patina of good juju. I could feel it when I walked into the room.