 Starting March 1 all ticket sales will be handled by our new box office service, Brown Paper Tickets.
Tickets will be available online, or through a 24/7 call-in box office. |
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 A veteran of club and festival stages coast to coast, Jack Williams is known for his excellent guitar playing and classically southern songwriting and persona.
His original material bears hints of Stephen Foster, Jimmie Rodgers, and Hoagy Carmichael, all filtered through the mist of Appalachian mountain music. In the words of WUMB radio's host Dave Palmater, "Whether Jack thinks of himself in this way or not, he is a poet and philosopher who helps us understand and appreciate the beauty of the struggles we have been through individually and as a people. He is an American institution walking, a road warrior, a talker, an inspiration and a great guy to hang with. He is the Song Dog."
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These two artists radiate a quiet, dignified, bone-deep stardom. They write songs of transformative depth and deliver them with show-stopping style. If you’re a fan of alt-country artists such as Lucinda Williams and Roseanne Cash, we guarantee you’re going to discover a couple new favorites tonight.
Amy Speace is based in NYC. Her last album, Songs for Bright Street, was handpicked by Judy Collins for release on Collins’ Wildflower label.
Sally Spring is a veteran folk-rocker who makes her home in the south. Her lastest album, Mockingbird, features guest appearances by Gene Parsons and Marshall Crenshaw.
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This show was originally going to feature Gary with his long-time musical partner Dave Miner on steel guitar. We're very sad to report that Dave passed away suddenly on February 14.
 Bluegrass singer-songwriter Gary Ferguson stands out with his smooth, full-bodied and slightly dark voice, and because of lyrics that have sent his songs to the top of the Americana and Bluegrass charts time and time again.
In recent years his most requested songs, both original and traditional, are about the American Civil War. Ferguson, who makes his home in Gettysburg, has received critical acclaim for that material, as well as for his heartfelt interpretations of songs by Gillian Welch, Hank Williams, Ryan Adams, and many others.
Singer/guitarist Gail Wade and celebrated mandolinist Emory Lester will be
joining in for some great picking and harmony singing.
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| Wednesday, May 7 • 7 PM |
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Poetry Open Mic |
| $3 |
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With Featured Reader Carolyn Forché |
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 Known as a "poet of witness," Carolyn Forché is the author of four books of poetry; Gathering The Tribes (Yale University Press, 1976), The Country Between Us (Harper and Row, 1982), The Angel of History (HarperCollins, 1994) and Blue Hour (HarperCollins, 2003).
Forché’s anthology, Against Forgetting: Twentieth Century Poetry of Witness was published in 1993. She has won numerous literary awards and has been recognized for her work on behalf of human rights and the preservation of memory and culture.
Carolyn Forché teaches at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.
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 Geoff Muldaur is one of the great voices and musical forces to emerge from the folk-rock scene centered in Cambridge, MA and Woodstock, NY in the 1960s. During the '60s and '70s, Geoff made a series of highly influential recordings as a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and Paul Butterfield's Better Days.
During a hiatus in the 1980s he composed scores for film and television, garnering an Emmy in the process. With his magical voice and singular approach to American music, Geoff is once again touring the world with his unusually crafted interpretations of classic, oftentimes obscure, American material as well as his own unique compositions.
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 Enjoy one last night of old time string band music, fiddle tunes, and country blues with this beloved Saratoga trio featuring "Banjo Dan" Hubbs on two-finger banjo, Mare Hill on vocals and Matt Gomm on mandolin and guitar.
They bring back the sounds of the Carter Family and Uncle Dave Macon, cover Lucinda Williams and the Rolling Stones, and play originals steeped in Americana.
Special guest Frank Orsini on Fiddle and Mandolin.
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| Saturday, May 10 • 8 PM |
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Don McLean in Concert at The Egg |
$34.50
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 Don McLean, one of those Caffè Lena graduates who went on to win an enduring place in American music history, is back in the Capital District for a concert at the The Egg.
To help support Caffè Lena, the Egg has reserved 50 of its finest front and center tickets for us to sell. Buy through us and you'll be guaranteed the best seats in the house!
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 Texas songwriter Eliza Gilkyson is a third-generation musician (daughter of Terry Gilkyson) whose entire life has revolved around music. She weaves the roots of gospel, blues and folk rock with intelligent, deeply personal lyrics sung in a sensual voice that is simultaneously tough and vulnerable.
Her latest album, Your Town Tonight, was recorded live and features some of the best songwriting in alt-country today. It includes her favorite themes of love, motherhood and earth, proving again that, as a child of the ’60s, 57-year-old Gilkyson can handle both the introspective and the activist sides of the folk tradition with subtlety and grace.
Spend time in the Berkshires with Eliza!
May 4 to 7: Powerful Women, Powerful Voices
A seminar for women songwriters and music lovers at the Kripalu Yoga Center featuring daily performance and self-discovery led by Eliza Gilkyson, Gretchen Peters, and The Nields.
To register or get more info click here:
www.kripalu.org/program/view/CA/PWPV81/ |
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 Top Brazilian guitarist Ulisses Rocha visited Caffè Lena while on a brief tour of the US in 2007, fell in love with the room, and now returns to take his place on the stage.
Playing a classical nylon-string guitar, Rocha is precise and thoughtful yet full of fire as he explores the rich harmonic possibilities of his own jazz-classical fusion pieces as well as work by fellow Brazilians Antonio Carlos Jobim and Egberto Gismonti.
Rocha´s technical élan and beautiful, complex originals have earned him appearances at international jazz festivals in Paris, Montreal, Ottawa, New York and the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil.
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| Saturday, May 17 • 8 PM |
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Mo Harrington & the White Chapel Band |
| $12/10 |
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 After decades of entertaining Vermont audiences with bluegrass and old-time country music, Mo Harrington of Bennington has recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Fox Hollow in the Valley Bluegrass Festival and has been recognized by the Vermont State Legislature for his contributions to his community.
Harrington amazes listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge of song lyrics and has a remarkable ability to craft new lyrics to old songs to fit a particular occasion or audience. He leads his band on guitar and vocals, backed by Mert Snow, Fred Lantz and Randy Gates. For old-fashioned down-home entertainment, this band simply can’t be beat.
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 Kelly Joe Phelps is at the peak of his songwriting powers, tackling engaging story songs and soul-bearing ballads with equal aplomb. Though most highly regarded for his phenomenal playing (he established himself as perhaps the foremost living practitioner of acoustic slide guitar with his 1999 Ryko release, Shine Eyed Mister Zen) there's nothing traditional or predictable about his mystical lyrics.
His latest album, Tunesmith Retrofit (Rounder), sticks with his country-blues and folk roots, but contains a number of surprises, including a return to the banjo (picked lightening fast!) and the first original instrumentals he's ever recorded, including "MacDougal," a spirited ragtime homage to folk legend Dave Van Ronk.
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| Wednesday, May 21 • 7 PM |
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Falcon Ridge Preview Tour |
| $10 |
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Lindsay Mac, Joe Crookston, and Randall Williams |
Get a sneak preview of the 2008 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival with an evening of music by the three "MOST WANTED BACK" artists from the Festival's 2007 New Performer Showcase.
For the last eleven years the Falcon Ridge organizers have drummed up business from DC to northern Vermont by putting their finest newcomers on the road for a couple weeks in May. This round features: Lindsay Mac, Joe Crookston, and Randall Williams. You can't beat the mid-week ticket price! |
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2005 Best Folk Act, Boston Music Awards
2006 Nominated Best Folk Act and Best Roots Act, Boston Music Awards
2007 Nominated for "Best Roots Act" --Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll |
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Six guys gather tightly around a small café table, ambient mics tuned to catch the whole sound of the voices and instruments playing classic country music. They’re playing an old-time suitcase drum kit, a vintage electric bass, a bunch of acoustic instruments, and a WWII-era field organ.
The audience feels drawn in by the theatricality, warmth, joy and camaraderie that emanate outward from the all-star cast: current and former members of Treat Her Right, Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna, The The, Dennis Brennan and Kris Delmhorst.
This award-winning sextet has has sold out Harvard Square's legendary Club Passim, rung in the New Year in Boston’s First Night, and won the city's highest honors for folk acts.
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 Based in Albany, the Mop & Bucket Co. is the area's oldest improvisational theater troupe.
Co-directors Michael Burns and Kat Koppett have assembled a top-notch company that will satisfy your hunger for a real theatrical experience. They guarantee a richer experience*. It's as simple as that.
From politics, to relationships, to current events and timeless universal experience, Mop & Bucket 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!
*Void where prohibited by fussiness. Some audience participation required. |
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| Sunday, May 25 • 7 PM |
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Memorial Day Open Stage |
| FREE |
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 This event has become one of our favorite traditions at Caffè Lena, each year bringing together poets, songwriters, storytellers, and speech-makers for a respectful and deep-hearted sharing of views about our soldiers and their mission.
All styles and points of view are welcome, but please be aware that Caffè Lena requires that material be suitable for an audience of all ages.
No advance reservations will be accepted. Performer sign-up goes from 7 to 7:30. Performances will get underway at 7:30. Time limits will be determined by the number of participants.
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 Our favorite northern bluegrass band, The Gibson Brothers, called last month to let us know they finished recording a new album! Just released on the Sugar Hill label, the album is titled Iron and Diamonds, and the Gibsons are coming to Lena's to give home turf fans a chance to hear the songs played live.
The project boasts seven new originals, and covers of songs by Roger Miller, Steve Earle, Tom Petty, Julie Miller, and Bill Carlisle. Don't miss this special concert and a chance to pick up your own copy of the record! |
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 This superb threesome from the Hudson Valley offers one great piece after another, without regard to the boundaries of style or period. They can swing, rock, bop and stop on a dime.
Whether it’s a standard by Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Django Reinhart, George Gershwin, or Latin or Tango by Jobim, Bonfa, Bizet, or traditional melodies from around the world, or the music of John Lennon, Sting, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, or an original composition . . . the Bernstein Bard Trio interprets it all with style and grace.
The Capital Region’s own percussionist extraordinaire Brian Mellick will sit in with Steve Bernstein on mandolin, Mark Bernstein on nylon string guitar, and Robert Bard on upright bass.
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| Saturday, May 31 • 8 PM |
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Addie & Olin—Unleashed! |
| $12/10 |
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 Addie & Olin Olin's funky, folky, fingerpicking guitar and mandolin pairs up with Addie's
pipin' hot piccolo, 'cool school' sax and flute, crazy concertina and
accordion for an unforgettable night of swinging whoopee jazz, soulful
klezmer and hipster originals that are unleashed, unbridled, uncut &
unglued! Highlighted by madcap visual performances and vaudevillian humor,
this one of kind duo offers 'Bodacious good humor, free-flying technical
facility and drawling witticisms that are supremely excellent.' Times. |
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