Caffe Lena – Week at a Glance

Greetings – Every other little venue from that music scene so beautifully depicted in the recent Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, either closed or stopped being a folk club–except one: Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY. Nobody can quite put their finger on the magic formula that has kept this place going all these years, but it certainly has something to do with Lena’s business philosophy: “Don’t do it like you’re in it to make money. Just do it with a whole lot of love. Like you’re in it to serve.” Every musician, audience member, volunteer, staff member and contributor has served this project in some small or large way that has brought us to this moment: our 65th Anniversary. I wish we could bottle the formula to save so many other things we love in the world, but for now let’s just focus on celebrating this one.

We’ve got a great celebration teed up:  John Gorka, a leading voice in the 2nd wave folk revival of the ’80s; an important and fun tribute to one of the greatest progressive voices of American folk music, Utah Phillips; the return of one of our longest serving musicians, Don Armstrong–with a fabulous band; and then to cap it all off, our big Sing In the Streets Festival on Sunday! I’m betting that we really will be in the streets on Sunday afternoon, but in case the weather has other plans, rain locations have been secured and we will post Plan B on our website and social media by Friday evening.

See you at the show,
Sarah