All ticket sales are handled by our box office service, Brown Paper Tickets.
Tickets are available online, or through a 24/7 call-in box office.
See our Ticket Info page. |
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| Wednesday, Oct. 1 • 7 PM |
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Poetry Open Mic |
| $3 |
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With Featured Reader Philip Memmer |
| philipmemmer.com |
 Syracuse, NY poet Philip Memmer is the author of two books of poems, most recently Threat of Pleasure, which was published in June 2008 by Word Press. He has also produced three chapbooks and had poems appear in Southern Poetry Review, Mid-American Review, Tar River Poetry, and many others.
He has also been included in several anthologies, including 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, edited by Billy Collins.
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Malcolm |
In a career spanning more than 35 years, over a dozen albums and 2,500 original songs, Tom Pacheco has touched countless hearts with unforgettable images. In a gentle baritone, he deals with social and political issues, expressing deeply poignant regret at the state of our nation, all while maintaining hope for a brighter future.
North Carolina songwriter Malcolm Holcombe plays bittersweet, sometimes raging, sometimes loving ballads that have received top accolades from Rolling Stone, No Depression, and many others. He hurls himself wildly into his performance with a gravelly voice, singing, groaning, and sighing. His haunting lyrics are "Not quite country, somewhere beyond folk, Holcombe's music is a kind of blues in motion, mapping backwoods corners of the heart." ~David Fricke - Rolling Stone Magazine
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| Saturday, Oct. 4 • 8 PM |
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Root Blues Revival |
$15/12 |
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Mark Tolstrup and Dale Haskell |
| marktolstrup.com |
 Mark Tolstrup is Saratoga's hometown steel slide master whose beautiful, vintage guitars ring with echoes of the Delta and Tin Pan Alley. He specializes in bottleneck Delta blues, gospel, ragtime and folk.
With world-class drummer and songwriter Dale Haskell accompanying on percussion and harmony vocals, the two branch out into classic pieces by Bob Dylan, The Beatles and plenty of solid originals.
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 We all know Noel from his years with Peter, Paul & Mary. But he's much more than the tall guy in the middle of that multi-million selling folk group: for years he has maintained a busy schedule of solo performances, media production, and faith-based activism.
Beloved for his rich voice, affable personality, and liberal and loving views, Noel has this to say about his own songs: "though they may be really quite wide contextually, [all] are from the 'forgiven and Loved' perspective that one inherits as a gift of the Spirit and I'm hopeful that I can remind people; to challenge them to create a peace on earth by starting within their own hearts."
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 A musician who has always eschewed categories, Claudia describes herself as a "creative noisemaker." You 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 so full of life that one critic said it's " . . . 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 plus years of international touring, Claudia has appeared numerous times on A Prairie Home Companion and other national radio and TV programs, and released eleven albums.
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 This Woodstock quintet brings to their Americana folk rock and jam band tunes the most impressive credentials, the deepest hearts, and an unguarded love of putting on a show.
Clearly up for any job, they've backed Vince Welnick of the Grateful Dead, Garth Hudson of The Band, and recorded an album with Rick Danko.
Professor Louie leads on keyboards and accordion, joined by Miss Marie on vocals and percussion, Gary Burke (Bob Dylan, Joe Jackson, Jesse Winchester, Graham Parker) on drums, Frank Campbell (Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Asleep At The Wheel) on bass, and Josh Colow (Kane Brothers, Jesse Winchester, Livingston Taylor) on guitar.
It just doesn't get any better than this!
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| Sunday, Oct. 12 • 7 PM |
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Caffè Lena Salutes Saratoga! |
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| A Benefit for Caffè Lena featuring Music, Theater, Poetry, Comedy, Dinner, Dessert & an Auction! |
 Forty-eight years ago Caffe Lena opened its doors on a quiet side street in Saratoga Springs. The Caffe's bohemian style was a bold departure for the quiet downtown, but students and neighbors gave it a chance and fell in love--with the music, with each other, and with the magical little venue itself. Nearly five decades later, Caffe Lena has made Saratoga the proud hometown of the countrys longest running folk club.
It is our great fortune to be embraced by a community that treasures the businesses and landmarks that make it unique. This special event is our chance to pay tribute to Saratoga in the way we do it best: with songs,
poetry, stories, comedy, and cake.
• Dan Hubbs & Frank Orsini - Saratoga Folksongs
• Jeannine Laverty - Storyteller
• Mary Ann Fitzgerald - Saratoga Springs in the 1960s
• Joseph Bruchac - Poetry
• Mop & Bucket Improv Theater Company - Skits and Laughs
• Raffle from Downtown Merchants
• Michael Jerling and Teresina Huxtable - Original Songs
• Alien Folklife - Original Songs
 A casual Friends & Neighbors dinner will take place at the Caffe before the show. All funds raised at the dinner, plus $5 from each show ticket, will be donated to our longtime musical friends and beloved Saratogians Don & Victoria Armstrong. The Armstrongs are facing medical bills and cannot work because of Victoria's recent heart bypass surgery. Dessert and coffee are included in the evening ticket price for anyone staying on for the show.
$20 - Dinner only - all proceeds benefit Don & Victoria
$35 - Show only - $30 to Caffè Lena, $5 to the Armstrongs
$55 - Dinner and Show (dessert & coffee included)
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 "...next time he comes within 100 miles, you must go hear him... " -Seth Rogovoy, The Boston Phoenix
First, this is not that Cormac (No Country for Old Men, Blood Meridian) though his background in literature, rural roots, and knack for penning a great line would make some comparisons easy to draw.
Born in Ohio but rooted in rural New England, Cormac grew up in towns where economies teetered and the people struggled. This background informs his heartfelt, sometimes funny, sometimes desperate, sometimes glorious song world of common people, struggles, hope, relationships, madness, and love, all delivered in a silky baritone voice with just enough grit.
Performance credits include multiple appearances on Mountain Stage, the Newport Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge, and all the best clubs on the east coast.
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 Mike and Ruthy first combined their talents in 1998 over cheap beer and not much else. The results were magical and led to seven years on the international folk festival circuit with their folk-rock stringband, The Mammals.
These days they're staying closer to their Hudson Valley home, playing songs that land somewhere between M Ward and Simon & Garfunkel. Mike's quirky odes from the early days and Ruth's sparkling versions of soul and folk classics, double-guitars, fiddle and banjo fall together in their capable hands to create pure, loving magic.
 New York-native singer-songwriter Milton is poised for a major breakthrough with the album he and his band recently recorded with Bo Ramsey (Lucinda Williams, Iris Dement, Greg Brown) and engineer Tom Tucker (Prince, Lucinda Williams, Mavis Staples).
The York Daily News has called Milton "Paradise Found." His funky, wordy, superbly upbeat acoustic pop songs celebrate the complex wonders of life in the city and the world.
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 Long-established as one of the most insightful songwriters on today's contemporary folk circuit, Pierce Pettis continues to hone and sharpen his craft with each passing year. He seamlessly interweaves the personal, political, and spiritual elements of life in songs that range from delicate folk to more hard-driving blues.
In addition to his national touring schedule Pierce has been a songwriter for Muscle Shoals, Polygram and Universal in Nashville. He has received numerous awards, including a 1999 Country Music Award from ASCAP for "You Move Me," recorded by Garth Brooks.
Pierce will be selling special pre-release copies of his new album, "That Kind of Love" (being released in January of '09). These CD's will be available only to fans at live shows this fall. You'll be able to get your copy of the new CD months ahead of the general public! |
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 "The banjos spit fire, the acoustics soothe the soul, and the vocals tell honest tales."
—Chris Lewis, Shut Eye
Putting an adventurous spin on Americana, M Shanghai is reminiscent of traditional roots music styles, yet innovative in their form and modern lyrics. They range from barnstorming breakdowns to achingly beautiful ballads, expressing originality and simplicity in the same breath.
In their hometown of NYC, they've gained a reputation as a must-see live band, sporting anywhere from five to eleven players, all getting into it with vibrant abandon.
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| Wednesday, Oct. 22 • 7 PM |
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Po' Girl |
| $10/12 |
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Album Release |
| www.pogirl.net |
 Po' Girl plays a poignant and pretty mix of 21st Century roots music. With echoes of speakeasy jazz, western lament, and accordion ghosts of European folk, their sound is urban but acoustic, reshaped and reinvigorated for new
ears.
The beauty and mystery of Po' Girl springs from the dynamic, improbable, mesmerizing bond shared by its two principle singers and writers, Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira. Hailing from Montreal and Toronto respectively, both women left untenable home situations at fourteen, found music instead of bad ends, and lived to sing the tales.
They have performed in thirteen countries in the past twelve months and headlined numerous top clubs and festivals coast to coast. |
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| Friday, Oct. 24 • 8 PM |
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Luminescent Orchestrii |
| $15/12 |
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| www.lumii.org |
 We were smart enough to know we'd run into something special when we first heard the Luminescent Orchestrii, but their Caffè Lena debut last spring surpassed all expectations.
This hot NYC quartet eats up and spits out Romanian gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle tunes.
Playing a couple violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica and bass, the diverse members are Sxip Shirey, an international circus composer, Sarah Alden, an old-time fiddle player, Rima Fand, an experimental theater composer, and Benjy Fox-Rosen, a free-jazz bassist.
Every piece they perform smacks of tradition and adventure--a delightful blend for folk fans seeking something new.
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 Eric Andersen is one of the greats of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene.
Over the decades he has followed his muse into a unique songwriting style that combines the poetic and the plainspoken, the throb of an open heart, and the perpetual motion of a soul on fire. For decades he has stayed at the forefront of singer-songwriters by keeping deeply engaged with the changing world, updating his style to fit new tastes, and expressing his unique sense of life's poetry in the language of a new generation.
Eric's songs have been recorded by Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, The Grateful Dead, and many others.
This year his 1968 album, "Avalanche" was re-released as part of Vanguard's Visionaries series.
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 Peter Mulvey distills funk, folk, rock and now old jazz and swing into songs that are lyrical, ethereal, and thoroughly contemporary. With a novel guitar style utilizing unique, bass-heavy tunings, a husky voice, and a superb sense of lyricism, Peter stands out among contemporary folk songwriters.
His brand new album, Notes from Elsewhere (Signature Sounds), is a retrospective of his fifteen-year recording career. Created solo in a studio, with just an acoustic guitar, the album features fresh takes on songs that have become fan and critic favorites over the years.
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 Matthew is best known to area audiences for his years playing strings and singing for the Kamikaze Hearts. His new solo album, Kentucky, features surpassingly artistic and rootsy original songs that blend influences as diverse as Radiohead, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and David Grisman.
Sharing the evening will be Matthew's friends Horse Feathers from Portland, Oregon. Horse Feathers is a unique and engaging trio that plays classically-influenced Americana. Their precise and delicate violin, cello and guitar back up gorgeous three-part harmonies and heartfelt words.
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| Friday, Oct. 31 • 8 PM |
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Halloween Special with the |
| $15/12 |
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Mop and Bucket Company |
| www.mopco.org |
 MopCo promise a Halloween as full of treats as when you were a kid-but no stomachache!
The audience supplies the themes, characters, and settings while the unbelieveably quick-thinking actors turn it into instant drama and song. From politics, to relationships, to current events and timeless universal experience, the Capital District's oldest improv troupe will have you on the edge of your seat as they take you on a high speed journey through laughter, pathos, enlightenment and more laughs.
Try them once, and you'll be hooked!
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