In March 1961, at the age of 24, Jean Redpath arrived in the United States with just eleven dollars in her pocket. Her first performance was in San Francisco. Later, she met up with Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village.
Jean would go on to become world famous as a singer of Scottish folk songs, particularly the songs of Robert Burns. In 1962, Jean made her way to Saratoga to sing at Caffe Lena. Lena’s Caffe was just in its 3rd year. One year later in 1963, following a concert performance, she signed with Elektra Records.
Even back then, the Caffe was known for music discovery.
In 2012, one of the new discoveries from Caffe Lena debuted. From Galway, Ireland, a band who mixed traditional Irish music with bluegrass to create the sound called Celtgrass arrived on scene. The band is called We Banjo 3. This young band is electrifying audiences around the world. See them at the Caffe on January 23.