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| Chandler Travis Three-O, 2011 |
Joy Kills Sorrow, 2011 |
Catie Curtis, 2011 |
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PDF Downloads:
Full Calendar
(2.8 MB) Sep-Nov |
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Fridge Calendar
(207 KB) Sep-Nov |
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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Calendar
February 2012
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Members receive 20% discount on most shows. Tickets sold at door cost additional $2.
Doors open 30 min. before showtime. Please, no earlybirds! |
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| Wednesday, Feb. 1 • 7 PM |
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Poetry Open Mic |
| $3 at the door |
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With Featured Readers Stuart Bartow and Paul Pines |
| www.paulpines.com/poetry |
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Stuart Bartow lives in Salem, New York, and teaches writing and literature at SUNY Adirondack (formerly ACC). His most recent collection of poems is Questions for the Sphinx. He is also nearing completion on a book about small stream fly fishing and its relation to Zen. He has been chair of the Battenkill Conservancy for the past six years.
Paul Pines has published seven volumes of poetry including Onion, Last Call at The Tin Palace, and his latest, Reflections in a Smoking Mirror: Poems of Mexico & Belize. He has also published two novels. His memoir, My Brothers Madness, has enjoyed wide critical acclaim. He lives in Glens Falls where he practices as a psychotherapist and hosts the Lake George Jazz Weekend. |
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 The Bluegrass Gospel Project has been impressing audiences since its inception in 2001. The group has been called "one of New England's premier concert acts" (Casey Rea, Seven Days, 2005). The BGP brings together top-tier vocalists and instrumentalists ("Just try and find a better group of singers" -Robert Resnik, 2009, host of Vermont Public Radio's 'All the Traditions') to interpret a wide range of material, from southern spirituals and Appalachian gems to contemporary songs by Brett Dennen and U2. The BGP is truly unique in that it presents a repertoire of music with a spiritual sensibility but without any religious agenda.
The line-up features Gene White, Jr. on fiddle, two-time Vermont state banjo champ Dr. Steve Light, vocalist Colby Crehan, guitarist Paul Miller, Taylor Armerding, founder of the progressive bluegrass band Northern Lights, on mandolin, and Kirk Lord on upright bass.
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 This powerful yet gentle father-and-son duo gets their audience lost in reverie with arrestingly soulful blues-based music. Their original songs blend folk, R&B, jazz, country, and bluegrass together in songs that might be classics, or might just sound like it. They play handsome vintage guitars and blend voices like only family members can.
These days Beaucoup Blue is getting heavy radio and internet play, and is a favorite of magazine reviewers. "Their voices work superbly together, frequently attaining a mesmeric panache that must be thrilling to view in person. Beaucoup Blue is a versatile, imaginative team that has something to say and say it with an adventurous sense of personality from the bottom of their hearts." —Sing Out! |
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Feb. 6, 7, 13,14 @ 7:30 PM
Feb. 10, 11 @ 2:00 PM
$15.00 |
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In the Black Box Theater
The Last Five Years |
 The Local Actor's Guild of Saratoga and Harmony Productions are pleased to announce a production of Jason Robert Brown's, The Last Five Years. Directed by Bob Goepfert, with musical direction by Valerie Lord and featuring Molly McGrath and Nick Abounader. The event is a fundraiser, with all net proceeds to benefit The American Cancer Society.
Caffé Lena has generously donated use of their black box theater and a representative from the American Cancer Society will make a short appeal at each performance.
General admission is $15.00. Reservations are recommended as seating is limited. For tickets and information contact Harmony Productions. (518-664-5999.) |
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Talk 'n' Talent |
| Meets Tuesdays 5 PM to 7 PM January 24 to March 6 |
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Open to teens aged 16 and up |
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 Whether you rap, sing, dance, draw, write, or play an instrument, we invite you to express your experiences through your art. This peer conversation and workshop group for older teens will share and discuss art and everyday life each Tuesday evening for seven weeks. On the eighth week the group will take the Caffe Lena stage for a public performance showcasing their talents. This is your chance to vent, celebrate, learn, and challenge yourself and others. |
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| Friday, Feb. 10 • 6:30 and 9 PM |
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Chris Smither |
$25 adv / $27 door
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| smither.com |
 With a dozen albums under his belt, Chris Smither qualifies as a veteran of the music industry. His elegant lyrics are arranged simply, with mostly just his own masterful finger-picking and foot-tapping to accompany him. His music qualifies as folk, but the blues influences are undeniable.
His first album, I'm A Stranger Too!, was released in 1970. His songs have been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall.
This past summer, Chris strapped on and plugged in an arch top jazz guitar to record an EP of rock 'n' roll classics including "Take Out Some Insurance" and "You Can't Catch Me" – reaching back to some of his earliest musical influences. This collectible album is available online and at Chris Smither concerts only. |
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Long a leader on today's contemporary folk circuit, Alabama songwriter Pierce Pettis interweaves the personal, political, and spiritual elements of life in songs that range from delicate folk to more hard-driving blues. His songs and stories are always creative and meaningful and the care he takes with his craft is evident in the excellence of his live performances. He has also achieved success in the commercial music world with a #1 hit for Garth Brooks.
It comes as no surprise that Pierce's daughter, Grace, is gaining national attention for her own brainy, quietly spiritual folksongs. After winning the prestigious NPR Mountain Stage songwriting competition in '09, and the Wildflower competition in '10, in 2011 Grace took the folk world's most coveted prize, the Kerrville New Folk award. Interestingly, Pierce won the Kerrville prize in 1987, the year Grace was born. This makes them the only father-daughter winners in the history of the competition.
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 One of Scotland's foremost troubadours, Archie Fisher presents haunting ballads that evoke the wild, rough beauty of the Scottish border country. A superb guitarist and songwriter with a rich, supple voice, he is known both as a much-honored folk music master and as a BBC Radio host.
In recognition for his contributions to Scottish folk music, Fisher was inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame and in 2006 was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire), a prestigious honor bestowed by Queen Elizabeth. He is also known throughout the country as the host of BBC Radio Scotland's award-winning Travelling Folk show, which he presented for over 25 years from 1983 until this past April.
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 “...one of those singers whose performance is a force of nature.”
—Sing Out Magazine
Sloan Wainwright's family tree (brother Loudon Wainwright, sister-in-law Kate McGarrigle, nephew Rufus Wainwright, nieces Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche) reads like a Who's Who of contemporary folk music. Her own special gift is her dramatic voice: warm and smoky and smooth, it makes her earthy, ominous lyrics seem all the more intense. She has an easy command of pop, folk, jazz and blues – all held together by the melodious tone of her rich contralto. Sloan has written numerous musical compositions for theater and dance and teaches at many of the best-known master songwriter series and workshops, including The Swannanoa Gathering, Summersongs and Wintersongs.
Since her head-first dive into the indie music world in November of 2009, opener Heather Maloney has taken her poetic and powerful folk-rock songs to more than 200 stages a year and has gotten the attention of top artists in the field. Her rich and playful singing style has an organic elegance that's hard to get out of your head.
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| Sat., Feb. 18 • 10 AM to 11 PM |
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The Flurry Folk Oasis |
Free with a Flurry Wristband
$10 per show without.
No advance reservations.
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| www.flurryfestival.org |
Caffè Lena teams up with Flurry Festival organizers to provide a foot-rest and refueling spot for tired dancers. The public at large is welcome, too. We'll have hot meals, delicious desserts, and loads of great music. Check our website for updates to this preliminary listing of featured artists as the date draws near.
- Bernstein Bard Quartet
- Windborne Trio
- Low and Lonesome
- Bare Necessities featuring
Jacqueline Schwab
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- Pete Sutherland and Baby States
- Notorious Folk
- Taina Asili and Gaetano Vaccaro
- Yiddishkeit Klezmer Ensemble
- Girl Howdy
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| Sunday, Feb. 19 • 7 PM |
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Genticorum |
| $18 / $12 for Dance Flurry |
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"Official Flurry Decompression" (public welcome!) |
| www.genticorum.com |
 For years Caffè Lena has been the spot for weary dancers to enjoy one last musical hurrah before departing town. Known as the Official Flurry Decompression, this is a chance to enjoy a concert in an intimate setting with one of the Flurry's best acts. This year we're thrilled to welcome the marvelous Quebecois string trio Genticorum.
Comprised of Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand (wooden flute, electric bass, vocals), Pascal Gemme (fiddle, feet, vocals) and Yann Falquet (guitar, feet, vocals), Genticorum has become a fixture on the international world, trad, folk and Celtic music circuit. The trio's first three albums met with critical acclaim in Canada, the United States and Great Britain, assuring the band a brilliant future. Known for its energy and its stage presence (and often mistaken for a larger ensemble), Genticorum has given more than 700 concerts of traditional Quebecois music in no fewer than 15 countries—and is showing no sign of slowing down: this is a band in high demand. |
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 Italy's charming and personable Beppe Gambetta has received worldwide acclaim as one of Europe's foremost guitarists. Still living in his birthplace of Genova, Italy, Beppe seamlessly bridges the shores of Italy and America, creating a musical fusion where emigration songs and folk ballads, steel string guitars and vintage harp guitars not only co-exist but weave a deep dialog.
As the founder of Red Wine, Europe's premiere bluegrass band, Beppe has worked with some great heroes of the US-Canadian folk scene, such as Gene Parsons, Doc Watson, and Norman Blake, as well as headlined prestigious festivals such as Merlefest in North Carolina and the Four Corners Festival in Colorado. His newest CD, Rendez-vous, is a good example of Beppe's cross-pollinated style, featuring duet tunes with singer-songwriter Patty Larkin, newgrass masters Missy Raines and Jim Hurst, and jazz bassist Riccardo Barbera. |
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| Saturday, Feb. 25 • 8 PM |
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Gathering Time
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$14 adv / $16 door
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With Opener The Stray Birds |
| www.misstessmusic.com |
 Returning to Caffe Lena after their acclaimed performance to three packed houses New Year's Eve, Gathering Time is either a rocked-up Peter, Paul & Mary or a co-ed Crosby, Stills & Nash, infused with The Byrds, Joni Mitchell, and a bit of Fairport Convention. Voted "Best of Long Island" of 2011 by the Long Island Press, the head-turning folk-rock harmony trio has been one of the "buzz bands" of the Northeast folk scene for the past three years.
Glen, Hillary & Stuart are known for their seamless vocal blend, memorable melodies, meaningful lyrics and easy-going, fun, stage chemistry. Bob McKillop of MaineFolkMusic.com writes, "Gathering Time ... has perfected two separate but related art forms: three part harmony an d having a ball on stage! When they harmonize, some sort of fundamental, cosmic concordance occurs that makes you very happy that you have ears."
The trio has strong roots in traditional folk as well as '60s and '70s folk-rock, and they've been known to sprinkle in some of those classics among their original sets.
The Stray Birds of Pennsylvania have played everywhere from street corners to concert halls. With a lifetime of classical training and a deep love of folk traditions, this trio offers soft, soulful, shimmering arrangements of folk songs new and old.
Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade have cancelled |
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 This husband and wife duo, who just happen to share the same last name in pronunciation if not spelling, are treasured members of the Capital District music scene. They are talented multi-instrumentalists (banjo, guitar, piano, mandolin, dulcimer, limberjack) who share a commitment to music as a way of life.
Much of their repertoire draws from the Irish and Southern Old Time tradition, which they share with warmth and humor in coffeehouses, schools, libraries and festivals. A perfect choice for the whole family.
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Photo:
Chandler Travis Three-O
© 2011, Joseph Deuel
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Photo:
Joy Kills Sorrow
© 2011, Joseph Deuel
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Photo:
Catie Curtis
© 2011, Joseph Deuel
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Copyright © 1998-2011, Caffè Lena, Inc.
All Rights Reserved |
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