Festival Fever: Caffe Lena’s Acoustic Blues Fest, 4/16-17

It’s not a big festival, at least not by festival standards, but at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, it’s always about the intimacy of the music. And, of course, good music is judged on quality, not quantity, anyway.

And the Caffe certainly does have a quality line-up of acoustic blues music on tap for its fifth annual Acoustic Blues Fest this weekend.

It gets underway with veteran bluesman Paul Geremia, who headlines the show at 8pm Friday on six and 12-string guitar, piano and harmonica. Opening for Geremia will be Street Corner Holler – the duo of Mark Tolstrup and Dale Haskell. Tix are $18 in advance; $20 at the door.

Ar 8pm Saturday, Street Corner Holler is back on stage leading a blues-in-the-round performance alongside Tas Cru and Phil Drum. Founder of the Saratoga Acoustic Blues Society, Drum is also planning to celebrate the release of a new album, “Old Blues,” on Saturday. Tix are $18 in advance; $20 at the door.

There’s also plenty of musical activity going on during the day on Saturday, including a trio of blues music workshops are conducted by Paul Geremia (11am), Phil Drum and Ray Giguere (1:30pm) and Tas Cru (3pm). The cost for the workshops is $25 each, or you can attend all three for $60.

PREVIOUS FESTIVAL FEVER ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Albany Word Fest @ Upstate Artists Guild, Albany, 4/16-17
Truck America Festival @ the Full Moon Resort, Big Indian, 4/30-5/2
Albany Tulip Festival @ Washington Park, Albany, 5/8-9
GottaGetGon @ Saratoga County Fairgrounds, Ballston Spa, 5/28-30
Mountain Jam @ Hunter Mountain, Hunter, 6/4-6
Rhythm On the Ridge @ Maple Ski Ridge, Rotterdam, 6/12
Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival @ Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, 6/19-20
The Old Songs Festival @ Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, 6/25-27
Beacon Riverfest @ Riverfront Park, Beacon, 6/26
Freihofer’s Jazz Festival @ SPAC, Saratoga Springs, 6/26-27
The WGNA Countryfest @ Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, 7/10
The Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival @ Walsh Farm, Oak Hill, 7/15-18
The Green River Festival @ Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, Mass. 7/16-18
The Solid Sound Festival @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, Mass., 8/13-15
Lake George Jazz Weekend @ Shepard Park, Lake George, 9/18-19/10