Perhaps musical talent can be inherited. At least, that seems to be the case with David and Sophie Buskin, who will be performing as part of Caffè Lena’s Pride Series on Thursday, August 1, as Buskin & Buskin. David, known for his background in folk-rock, is part of the duo Buskin & Batteau, and the band Modern Man, which he refers to as a “geezer trio.” He is a talented songwriter and has written for artists such as Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie and Roberta Flack.
Sophie is a bit more rock and roll. Her stylings influenced by alt-rock, albeit she has been a part of the NYC folk scene for many years now. While attending college at Berklee, she was part of their Gospel Choir. Her first album, Sweet Creature, was released last year. She has been slowly evolving as a musician in her journey of self-discovery, and has performed with Jewel, Alana Davis, Mason Jennings and Judy Collins.
This multi-generational act brings a certain playfulness to the stage that comes along with knowing one another for such a long period of time. David’s pride in his daughter and her maturation into the musical performer she is today is apparent in their interactions, and is a pleasure to witness.
The opener that evening will be local Schenectady County Community College barbershop quartet, Out of Time. Tickets can be purchased here.
“So, I have a new EP out,” Jonatha Brooke said to the crowd gathered at Caffè Lena on Thursday night. The news was received with warm applause. “And I’m naked on the cover.” At this point she posed, arms stretched outwards and upwards, ready to take on whatever the audience sent her way.
Jonatha is the second performance of Caffè Lena’s pride series, which has a way of making performers feel safe enough to be completely honest. Jonatha’s vulnerability is only accentuated by her presence on the stage, a lone woman with a mic and a guitar.
The performance was incredibly satisfying. Perhaps it was the way her voice eased through the room, settling in comfortably with the crowd. Or it could be the fact that she is a self-proclaimed “terrible liar” and her brand of off-beat candor was refreshing.
Jonatha spoke openly about her relationship with her mother, doing impressions of her throughout the night. She has written and performed in a musical based on living with her mother while she dealt with Alzheimer’s. The musical is called My Mother Has 4 Noses and is based off a quote made by her mother, who said, “After all, how many people do YOU know who can say they have FOUR noses?”
After “mothering her mother” as she so put it, Jonatha spoke about how it had helped her better understand herself on a new level, one in which she experienced what she described as a, “I would take a bullet for you feeling.” This led into a performance of a song that she played as a member of The Story – “So Much Mine.” This song describes the perspective of a mother watching over her child and the worries that spring to mind when one thinks about them.
Many of Jonatha’s songs revealed different aspects of her inner workings, such as her song “Imposter,” off of her new EP of the same name. The song is played on mandolin, and in it, she calls herself the imposter. She said that the song was about her own feelings of self-doubt that sometimes haunt her, a relatable feeling to be sure. “Liar, loser, phony. No one ever says so, but I know it’s true. Poser, lightweight, cheapskate. I wanna be, but woe is me. Someone better muster up the truth,” she sang, her voice clear in the small space. She calls herself her “own best saboteur,” harkening on the very realistic feeling many have of having to fake their way through the day, to bend themselves to appear less weak or to hide their flaws from others.
And yet, there was no denying that Jonatha Brooke wasn’t as uncertain of herself as “Imposter” may have led the audience to believe. Before performing her song “Fire,” Jonatha strolled casually across the stage and proclaimed, “I am kind of liking getting older sometimes because I don’t give a shit anymore.” Amen to that.
She chose to end with “Linger,” her big hit from 2001. It was comforting to hear that someone as successful as she is could still harbor doubts. In this, Pride Night at Caffè Lena has once again provided Saratoga with a space of security where doubts were eased.
Kris Kelly has released his newest single “Cracked Porcelain,” featuring an all-star team of musicians, including” Todd Sickafoose (“Hadestown”, Ani DiFranco) on bass and arrangements by John Philip Shenale (Tori Amos). The track will appear on his forthcoming album, Runaways, due out on August 29, which also features previously released singles “Birthplace” and “We Flew.”
Kris Kelly is a singer/songwriter based in Brooklyn, NY. Originally from Austin, TX, he moved to New York City to attend NYU, where he studied classical vocal performance and music composition. For years he performed his original compositions for guitar, vocals, flute, violin, bass, and percussion at many popular NYC venues. He then spent five years traveling through South America with just his guitar and a suitcase. Living mostly in Argentina and Brazil, Kelly met his husband, and his travel experiences inspired the core of Kelly’s album – pure love, loss, discovery, and growth.
Kris shares some insight into ‘Cracked Porcelain:’ “This is a story about two gay men who find freedom in defining their relationship in an unconventional, ‘open’ way but who end up getting lost in the revelry and ultimately drive each other apart. I think the LGBTQ community has a unique opportunity to redefine our relationship with sex within our partnerships. Not having forced onto us the traditional ways of defining a healthy partnership gives us the freedom to discover it for ourselves, but it also comes with a great responsibility, and I think we often fail. I failed at least. And that’s OK, because I realized if I wanted to be happy, I had to make a change. I’ve been forced to reevaluate constantly my relationship with my partner and to figure out how to respect each other while maintaining a healthy individuality, and we’re still navigating it to this day.”
“It’s easy to go unconscious and do whatever feels good in the moment, but without consciously, intentionally taking care of the relationship, it falls apart. There has to be a balance in order to nurture both carnal desires and the spiritual connection with another human being (if that’s something that you value). And when things are out of balance, suffering is inevitable. That’s what happens in ‘Cracked Porcelain’.”
Erin McKeown had confidence that seemed unshakable on the stage at Caffè Lena Thursday night, June 20. Erin began her set speaking about how she has to do a lot of self-work and self-building to get where she is. She spoke of how she had been outed at a young age, and her parents weren’t accepting of her lifestyle. It was a relief to hear that someone who was so strong could have moments of self-doubt.
“Sometimes,” she explained, “It is hard to look in the mirror and like what you see. Mirrors can break you back.” This led into her first song of the evening, “Mirrors Break Back,” off her album of the same name released in 2017. She changed her performance by treating the song as a poem, a spoken word piece. When she was finished, she was met with loud applause from the audience.
Erin performing a spoken word version of “Mirrors Break Back” at Caffè Lena on June 20.
The room was filled with joy, a crowd who could appreciate who Erin was and understand her background. Caffè Lena had given the LGBTQ community a safe space to listen to an out and proud lesbian performer and activist. Erin spoke openly about her life. She talked about the struggles she has had, and how she has overcome it.
Witty and charming, Erin stated that she felt like she should play songs for the Pride event that were gay, but then commented that all of her songs were. She did include an “especially gay set” for the crowd. These included songs like “Sugar in a Pie” and “Jenny.”
She also chose a song, “28,” which was about a particular time in her life – when she was 28. Erin relates it to the orbit of Saturn, which takes 28 years, and when it rolls around there is a time of upheaval and huge changes take place. “It’s not especially gay, but I am,” she said with a playful shrug as she began.
Erin switched to the piano to continue her set with the song “The Lions” which contains the lyrics, “There’s a risk, there’s a twist, to anything worth doing.” This seems to be a philosophy that Erin has carried with her through life. She has successfully produced the musical Miss You Like Hell which has won five Drama Desk awards and was named the “Best Musical of 2018” by Wall Street Journal. At the age of 40, Erin published a song book, Some of My Better Songs (But Not All of Them). She is currently working on another musical and perhaps a singer/songwriter record. Erin is someone who is constantly busy, and she seems to thrive when she has many creative endeavors going on at once.
Erin does nothing by halves. In geographic areas where there has been tension about gay rights, Erin has chosen to not avoid them as some artists have, but has made it a point to play there. She wanted to see how things were on the ground level and encourage the people fighting the good fight. For them, she wrote the song “Queer Gospel” to encourage them to persist despite the difficulties they faced.
The audience gave Erin a standing ovation, and when she returned for her encore she chose to play a song that required audience participation. Together Erin and the audience sang “Where Did I Go” with the audience filling in the chorus and Erin singing the solo verses. The Caffè was filled with voices brought together to rejoice in who they were, in whom they had bravely chosen to be despite adversities. Hands clapped in unison. On a night when it was important to come together, Erin ended with the right song.
Caffe Lena will continue the pride series next month with a performance by Jonatha Brooke on July 17th at 7 p.m. For tickets go here.
