Good folk: Caffe Lena, iconic Bob Dylan-era NY coffeehouse, celebrates 50th anniversary

Good folk: Iconic NY coffeehouse marks 50th year

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The upstate New York coffeehouse that helped launch the careers of such folk music icons as Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Guthrie is headlining an anniversary concert Saturday in Saratoga Springs for Caffe Lena (LEE’-nuh), an 85-seat venue that opened its doors on May 20, 1960. The concert is being held at a 550-seat concert hall at Skidmore College.

The coffeehouse was started by Bill and Lena Spencer, an artsy couple from Boston. After they split up in the early 1960s, Lena ran the business until her death in 1989. It’s now a nonprofit institution.

Other folk musicians who have performed at Caffe Lena include Ani (AH’-nee) DiFranco, Loudon Wainwright III, Tom Rush, Emmylou Harris and Nancy Griffith, to name a few.

On the Net:

www.caffelena.org