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Friday, Sept. 1 to
Sunday, Sept. 3, 7:30 PM |
2ND ANNUAL LENAPALOOZA |
$5 per day |
 Coming together in this 2nd Annual Lenapalooza will be a full spectrum of folk to rock bands and all kinds of hybrids in between. Plan to stop by anytime during the evening to catch a taste of the amazing young talent growing right here in Saratoga Springs and featured throughout the year at our Emerging Artists Breakout every Wednesday.
Friday:
Courtney Biondo; Amanda Platt; and Paddy Kilrain
Saturday:
Matt Loiacono; Broadcast Live; and Brent Gordon and the Tender Breasts
Sunday:
Kyle Z.; Margot Malia Lynch; and the Ashdown Bros. |
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| Wednesday, Sept. 6 @ 7 PM |
POETRY OPEN MIC -
Third Year Anniversary Party
with Special Guest Hosts Mary Panza and Don Levy |
$3 |
 In honor of all the wonderful open mic poets who come out every month, on this night every poet can a take a little extra time on stage. Mary Panza, Albany’s poetry diva, originated and hosted the poetry open mic at Border’s and has been a driving force in the poetry community for a number of years.
She currently co-hosts the Poets Speak Loud reading series and is Vice President of Albany Poets. Don Levy hosts the Live From the Living Room poetry series and the new Poets Night Out, both in Albany. He’s performed his work all over the area and is Director of Albany Poets. |
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| Friday, Sept. 8 @ 8 PM |
GARNET ROGERS
With Special Guest Bobby Sweet |
$15/12 |
 www.garnetrogers.com | www.bobbysweet.com
Canadian singer/songwriter Garnet Rogers is a man with a powerful physical presence - close to six and a half feet tall - with a voice to match. With his "smooth, dark baritone" (Washington Post) his incredible range, and thoughtful, dramatic phrasing, Garnet is widely  considered by fans and critics alike to be one of the finest singers anywhere. Combine his literate, passionate, deeply purposeful approach to his craft with over-the-top humor and a lightening quick wit and you have truly captivating entertainer.
Garnet sings about people who are not obvious heroes and of the small victories of the everyday, and carries his audience from song to song with memorable stories and quips.
Bobby Sweet will open the show with a few of his well-wrought, simple country songs.
He is deeply commited to his craft and has won fans worldwide with a style that has been called a cross between "a countrified Bruce Springsteen and Lyle Lovett." |
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| Saturday, Sept. 9 @ 1:30 PM |
THE LAST FIVE YEARS
In the Black Box Theater |
$15 |
 Starring Molly Rose McGrath and Jonathan Whitton, The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown is an intensely personal look at the relationship between a writer and an actress told from both points of view.
Made up mostly of solo turns, with beautiful music and alternately humorous and heartfelt lyrics, the play follows the growth of the relationship from meeting to marriage to breakup, and back again. Musicals about relationships are nothing new, but The Last Five Years manages to reinvent the familiar formula giving "Unpredictable heartfelt insights, energized by a seductive, rhythmic drive." -Linda Winer
Additional matinee shows at 1:30 PM: Sept. 10, 16 & 17
Additional evening shows at 8 PM: Sept. 19 & 20 |
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| Saturday, Sept. 9 @ 8 PM |
MAGPIE |
$12/10 |
 "Greg and Terry can show us all what a wonderful thing it can be for two voices to harmonize together. How lucky I am to have lived to see and hear more links in the chain." -Pete Seeger
www.magpiemusic.com
Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino's Magpie represents the grassroots activist end of the folk music spectrum. Their music doesn't just sound good, it does good.
For more than thirty years they've raised consciousness, hopes and spirits with songs about the earth and its people. And because they are artists as well as activists, they mix their topical songs up with a rainbow of classics that draw on Terry's skills as a jazz and blues singer, and Greg's talent for rollicking fingerstyle guitar. |
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| Sunday, Sept. 10 @ 7 PM |
THE HIGHWAYMEN |
$15/12 |
 www.originalhighwaymen.com
Yes, this is the original Highwaymen, the popular folk group from the early 1960's that recorded Michael, Row the Boat Ashore, Cottonfields, and The Gypsy Rover. They're the same guys who started the group, and they're still singing.
The Highwaymen stand alongside the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and the New Christie Minstrels in the early-'60s divide between folk-pop acts and the more politically-oriented folksingers such as Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. During their heyday they scored a couple major hit singles, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, contributed a couple future standards to the folk repertory ("Big Rock Candy Mountain," "All My Trials"), and first recorded songs that went on to become hits for Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Beach Boys, Buffy St. Marie and Ewan McColl.
Although all members of the group have pursued other careers they still make time for a few concerts each year, and after nearly fifty years the Higwaymen remain timely and delightful. |
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| Friday, Sept. 15 @ 8 PM |
HUNGER MOUNTAIN BOYS
With Special Guest Diana Jones |
$12/10 |
 www.hungermountainboys.com | www.dianajonesmusic.com
High vocal harmonies, fleet picking, off-the-cuff stage banter and of course those classic brown suits. The Hunger Mountain Boys have a show like no other on the touring scene today and we couldn't be more pleased to bring them back to our stage following their standing-room-only debut last spring.
 In the tradition and spirit of the classic country duets of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, they capture the authentic early-American country sound and fiery energy of such legendary duets as the Monroe Brothers and Louvin Brothers. In addition to recording and performing a variety of old classics and rarities ranging from stringband-style barn-burners to weepy emotional death ballads, the 'Boys write much of their own heartfelt material.
Since their last visit they've added string bass player Matt Downing to the line-up of Kip Beacco on mandolin, fiddle and guitar, and Teddy Tetlow Weber on guitar and steel guitar, and they've released a new album, Three.
Gar Ragland of the Mountain Stage NewSong Festival said of this evening's opener, "Her music cuts straight to the soul with the economy of small batch bourbon." Diana's gritty, timeless Americana songs have won several awards including the recent 2006 Kerrville New Folk Contest. |
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| Saturday, Sept. 16 @ 8 PM |
DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN
AND The JEREMY WALLACE TRIO |
$12/10 |
  www.davidjacobs-strain.com | www.jeremywallace.com
Fans of American roots music get a two-for-one deal tonight. At twenty-two, David Jacobs-Strain has already logged thousands of miles touring the national club and festival circuit with his Mississippi Delta grooves, driving slide guitar and fervent vocals.
His passion stretches the limits of the blues with blazing guitar breakdowns that verge on psychedelia while still reflecting his early preoccupation with acoustic country blues.
Jeremy Wallace plays "Americana with a Bite." His work has been described as a little folk, a tinge of rock, some country and loaded with gritty blues. He has been compared to Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.
The late Dave Van Ronk said of Jeremy, "He's one of the most arresting new talents I've ever heard. When I hear him I get the feeling I got the first time I heard Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie." We've loved hearing him solo. With the trio he's off the charts! |
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| Sunday, Sept. 17 @ 7 PM |
PETER TORK WITH JAMES LEE STANLEY |
$20/18 |
 www.petertork.com | www.jamesleestanley.com
Peter Tork (yes, of the Monkees!) has been a musician and actor of unusual gifts since cutting his musical teeth in the Greenwich village folk scene of the '60s.
Adept on guitar, banjo, keyboards and more, he's also a fine songwriter and entertainer. When he gets together with his close friend and collaborator James Lee Stanley the stories, laughs harmonies abound.
Stanley himself has released seventeen albums, two of which received Grammy nominations. He has opened shows for performers as diverse as Bonnie Raitt and Bill Cosby. |
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| Monday, Sept. 18 @ 7 PM |
STORYTELLING OPEN MIC |
$3 |
 Storytellers throughout the Capital District
gather at Caffe Lena once a month to try their voices for the first time, hone their skills in front of a live audience, work on their presentation, or try out new ideas in a supportive atmosphere. For others it just an inexpensive night of fine entertainment.
No advance reservations are necessary or taken. Tellers sign up by 7:15, performances begin at 7:30. No reading, just telling, please. The hosts are Marni Gillard, Christie Keegan and Jeannine Laverty. |
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| Friday, Sept. 22 @ 8 PM |
STACEY EARLE AND MARK STUART |
$15/12 |
 www.staceyearle.com
Stacey and Mark have been making music together since meeting in Nashville in 1991. Before that, Stacey had toured as a guitarist with her brother Steve Earle's band before returning home to focus on songwriting, while Mark had earned a reputation as an ace sideman since his teen years playing in local honky-tonks.
Together they've created a body of twangy, bittersweet country music delivered with beautiful harmonies and simple acoustic guitars. Stacey's unaffected southern charm is irresistible and sweeps audiences along on a ride that is part joy, part tears, part righteous hope. Together they've won over audiences at major music festivals and in clubs coast to coast. |
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| Saturday, Sept. 23 @ 4 & 8 PM |
"RELAX, I BROUGHT ENOUGH EGO FOR EVERYBODY"
& "IRREGULAR OPPOSITION"
Performed by humorist Dirck Toll |
$12/ 8 students/ seniors/ members |
 Why exactly has Dirck Toll been described on the website of WAMC as "the Capital Region's most beloved and controversial humorist?" According to Dirck's own theory, "The controversy seems to be about just how beloved I really am." You can decide for yourself as Dirck returns to the Black Box Theater.
Because of the sell-outs of his previous shows, this time Dirck is giving two performances on the same day. What's more, in each performance Dirck will present two of his crowd-pleasing stage pieces: "Relax, I Brought Enough Ego for Everybody" is a hectic blurring of self-aggrandizement and self-deprecation that brings both to their knees; "Irregular Opposition" is the hilariously offbeat multi-character story of a strange small-business setback. So heed the portents and reserve tickets immediately! Don't miss Dirck Toll twice! |
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| Sunday, Sept. 24 @ 7 PM |
CLAUDIA SCHMIDT |
$15/14 |
 www.homestead.com/claudiasings
A musician who has always hated categories, Claudie Schmidt describes herself as a "creative noisemaker," which has irritated some critics but delighted many audiences who can expect anything at a Schmidt concert including hymns, poems, bawdy verse, torch songs, satire, and the gamut of emotions.
With her astonishing musicality and contagious love of performance, her live shows are not to be missed. She can weave the elements of music and stage into a program so unified and full of life that one critic has described a Claudia Schmidt concert as " . . . a lot like falling in love. You never know what's going to happen next, chances are it's going to be wonderful, every moment is burned into your memory, and you know you'll never be the same again."
During her thirty years of international touring, she has appeared numerous times on A Prairie Home Companion and other national radio and TV programs, and released eleven albums, including 2006's Spinning. |
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| Friday, Sept. 29 @ 8 PM |
JIM GAUDET |
$12/10 |
 www.artistdirect.com
This is the long-awaited comeback concert of Albany-based singer/songwriter
Jim Gaudet who became a Caffè Lena favorite in the 1980s and '90s. During his years of
playing here and across the Northeast, Jim released two albums and entertained thousands with his acoustic folk-rock songs.
Ranging from witty to heartfelt to topical, Jim never fails to put on a great show. For this special concert Jim plans to bring some friends along and dedicate a part of the evening to a new musical direction presenting three-part harmonies in an authentic blend of traditional Americana music.
He has been sorely missed and we're thrilled to welcome him back to our stage! |
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| Saturday, Sept. 30 @ 8 PM |
WINTERGREEN |
$12/10 |
 www.wintergreentrio.com
This beloved folk trio from the Berkshires performs a mixture of traditional and contemporary folk music from the British Isles and America, along with their own compositions. Their concerts feature instrumentals based on dance tunes, intricate three-part vocal harmonies and a wide variety of folk instruments, including hammered dulcimer, psaltery, banjo and string bass.
With more than four decades of performance experience, they are a joy for all ages with their perfectly clear lyrics, bouncy melodies, and fascinating instruments. |
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