Events

Caffe Lena – Week at a Glance

Written by Staff on April 27, 2026

Greetings – There’s a tradition in some cultures that a person dies twice. The second time is when their name is spoken for the last time on Earth. Roy Book Binder, a NYC-born kid who didn’t discover Blues until he was in the Navy, kept kicking that “Second Death” date down the road for a generation of nearly forgotten, Black, mostly blind musicians from the Carolina Piedmont who laid the foundation for folk, rock and singer-songwriters soon to come. Roy would have played this Friday, but sadly he passed away on March 3. On Friday night, hearkening back to 2020/2021, we’ll close the Caffe and host a live “watch party” on YouTube and Caffe Lena TV. The show we’ve created is an hour of highlights from Roy’s recent Caffe Lena gigs, including the jokes, stories and songs that made him a staple of folk music for nearly six decades.

This whole week is full of great stuff. Guitar brilliance, jams, strings galore, fabulous storytelling. Just sampling the music below is going to put a shine on your morning. Imagine how much brighter the coming days will be if you come in person!

See you at the show,
Sarah

Monday
7:00 PM – Open Mic Night

Tuesday
3:00 PM – Clawhammer Banjo Class with Carolyn Shapiro
7:00 PM – STEEL WHEELS SOLD OUT
8:00 PM – “Live From Caffè Lena” on WEXT 97.7 or 106.1 FM

Wednesday
10:30 AM – Folk Club Kids: Stories, Songs & Sing-Alongs (Infants to Pre-K)
2:30 AM – After School Folk Ensemble with James Gasoyne and Oona Grady
7:00 PM – Music Theory for Jammers with Bruce Thompson and Sam Katz
7:00 PM & 12:00 AM – “Live From Caffè Lena” on Folk Music Notebook