Drank the Gold and Benny Bleu

DRANK THE GOLD 

Local favorites Drank The Gold (Oona Grady and James Gascoyne) are thrilled to play with their friend Benny Bleu (and his band) for a very special night at Caffè Lena. Expect an evening of traditionally inspired original songs, reimagined fiddle and banjo tunes, and rich folk harmonies that ring clear and true.

Opening the evening, Drank The Gold brings soaring harmonies, fiddle, guitar, and banjo to North Atlantic dance tunes and folk songs. Named 2023 Folk/Traditional Artist of the Year at the NY Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards, the duo continues to expand the tradition with imagination and heart.

“At times, they dived into the track of the moon in the dark sea water and opened their mouths to swallow the silver. At times, they plunged into the path of the sun in the green-blue ocean and opened their mouths and drank the gold.”

—Pat O’Shea, The Hounds of the Morrigan

SAMPLE SONG

From upstate New York, Oona Grady (fiddle/viola/vocals) and James Gascoyne (guitar/banjo/vocals) draw from Irish and American old-time traditions. Oona spent years in Cork, Ireland, honing her craft before returning to Ithaca and immersing herself in old-time and Cajun styles. James, raised outside Louisville, Kentucky, grew up surrounded by radio, vinyl, church music, and live performance, developing a sound that honors tradition while embracing curiosity and experimentation. Now based in Saratoga Springs, the duo continues to offer fresh perspectives on the music they love. Their latest single, The Song of Wandering Aengus (May 2025), earned praise for its “impeccable harmonies” and “pure serenity.”

BENNY BLEU

“Benny Bleu is a geologist by trade, banjo player and singer-songwriter who touches on our connections with the natural world and each other.” – Putumayo World Music

Benny Bleu Haravitch plays old-time banjo in the Finger Lakes of upstate New York, a land defined by deep lake valleys and steep highlands. That landscape shapes his sound. Having studied with regional old-time visionaries Mac Benford, Richie Stearns, Judy Hyman, and Bruce Molsky, Benny’s banjo rolls and pulses with the spirit of place. An award-winning player and geologist, his performances are exciting journeys through tunes from his homeland, old songs absorbed while growing up next to a jug band, and original modern folk contemplations.

SAMPLE SONG

Joining Benny is a stellar band: guitarist and fiddler Gus Tritsch (who has appeared at Caffè Lena with Jake Blount), his brother Huck Tritsch on drumset, a Clifftop-winning fiddler and jazz-studies drumming major at Temple University, and Eric Heveron-Smith on bass, a multi-instrumentalist and naturalist in his own right.

This promises to be a night of deep roots, high musicianship, and music that connects landscape, tradition, and community, which is exactly the kind of evening that feels right at home at Caffè Lena.

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