Caffe Lena’s Update for the Week of November 30th

December 1st is #GivingTuesday

Greetings – Launched out of the 92nd Street Y in 2012, GivingTuesday has grown into a worldwide day of generosity that generates millions of donations to nonprofit organizations. It inspires us to invest in the world we want to live in. If your ideal world includes music, please take this opportunity to donate to Caffe Lena’s Annual Fund Drive.

The video up top shows how our cameras and your generosity have kept musicians working at a time when nearly every stage is dark. Beyond the financial support, your encouragement and appreciation is much needed by artists who live to make songs for you. Please take a moment to listen to their words of gratitude.

And what a special week we have ahead of us! A trio of amazing poets. A trio of musical neighbors who turned the lemon of being stuck at home into the lemonade of a very moving, new album. A young man who got his start on our stage at the age of 14 and became a national star less than two years later.

And so the story continues, all because you keep listening and lending a hand.

With gratitude,
Sarah

Donate Now to Lena’s Annual Fund Drive

Monday, Nov 30 / 7 PM
Rick’s Picks Local Showcase
PHIL DRUM plus JAY YAGER & THE BROWN LIQUOR SOCIAL CLUB

What a fun line-up Rick Bolton picked for us to start our week! Jay Yager & The Brown Liquor Social Club are busy local entertainers, but this will be their first time on Lena’s stage. NYS Blues Hall of Fame inductee Phil Drum is one of our regulars, both headlining and hosting our monthly Acoustic Blues Night.

Tuesday, Dec 1 / 8 PM
LENA ON THE RADIO! WEXT 97.7 & 106.1 FM
The McKrells Rebroadcast

If you want to make your house feel happy, tune in to WEXT on Tuesday evening and listen to Kevin McKrell’s delightful album release show from November 8th. His Irish-American songs are rooted in resilience. It’s just the soundtrack we need right now.

Wednesday, Dec 2 / 7 PM
POETRY NIGHT: Shira Dentz, Rana Bitar & David Graham

Do you enjoy NPR’s “The Slow Down” with Tracy K. Smith? Were you a “Writer’s Almanac” fan? Poetry calls for our undivided attention. In just a few words it will stir memory, emotion and awareness. Tonight we stream live readings by Syrian-American oncologist, essayist, poet Rana Bitar; Iowa Writer’s Workshop graduate Shira Dentz, who is an educator, graphic artist and widely published poet; and teacher, editor, poet David Graham, who recently published his seventh book of poems.

Thursday, Dec 3 / 7 PM
The Lustre Kings

Our Rockabilly friends are gonna come blazing onto the stage with a pandemic’s worth of pent up music! The Lustre Kings play crowd-pleasing, All-American classics by Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Burnette, and a healthy dose of originals to keep it fresh. This kind-hearted band partnered with us to put on a live, all-requests show for residents of The Pines Nursing Home a few months ago. What a spirit-lifter it was!

Friday, Dec 4 / 8 PM
Middle Grove Trio
Joe Bruchac, John Kirk & Mikael Mulholland

These neighbors from Middle Grove Road in Greenfield have all toured the globe as artists. Joe Bruchac is a renowned novelist, poet, speaker and songwriter who is one of the leading voices of Abenacki culture today. John Kirk is a multi-instrumentalist who is known to folk music fans far and wide. Mikael Mulholland retired from his world-touring heavy metal band and has refocused on acoustic guitar and songwriting. They’ve used the down time to create a whole album of new songs that speak to the challenges and hopes of this moment.

SAWYER FREDERICKS
Saturday, Dec 5 at 8 PM
Sunday, Dec 6 at 7 PM

Americana singer-songwriter Sawyer Fredericks has kept in close touch with his global fanbase throughout the pandemic by streaming live from home and creating gorgeous videos, like this one. But a full band show?  Fans have been waiting nine months for that! Each night will have its own unique setlist, so be sure to catch both.

Sawyer got famous overnight by winning NBC’s The Voice at the age of 16. But instead of following the expected path, he struck out on a fiercely independent journey to develop his own voice. With each album he has released, his art has become stronger and deeper. His fans now know him, not as the boy in front of the TV cameras, but as a man of compassion, depth, and exquisite musical artistry.