Growing up in Brooklyn didn't keep our singer who played at Caffe Lena in 1979 from wanting to be a cowboy when he grew up. This is episode 20 of Caffe Lena : 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs for this feature. Encouraged to follow his father's example and become a surgeon, Elliot rebelled, running away from home at the age of 15 to join Colonel Jim Eskew's Rodeo. He was only with them for three months before his parents tracked him

They were known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances. This is episode 19 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs for this feature. In the late 1960s, sisters Maggie and Terre were in Park Ridge NJ high school, but dropped out to tour as a duo. Maggie wrote most of the songs. Terre contributed a few. The sisters got a break when Paul Simon brought them in as backup

He was a character with a strange sense of humor, and he was known as the father of the jazz violin. This is episode 18 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs for this feature. Joe Venuti was said to have been born in Philadelphia. He was classically trained in the violin from a young age. His professional career began in 1924, and continued for 54 years until his death in 1978. He and guitarist Eddie Lang made numerous

Her father, Don West, was likely a big influence on her as she grew up. He had been a southern poet and a coal mine labor organizer. This is episode 17 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs for this feature. Her family's politics were a lifelong influence. Hedy West wrote liner notes for 1967's Old Times and Hard Times, from self-imposed exile in London. They were a personal statement on the corrosive effect of the Vietnam

Led Zeppelin lead singer, Robert Plant, named him as one of his earliest influences. This is episode 16 of Caffe Lena : 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs for this feature. Sleepy John Estes, with his distinctive "crying" vocal style found his way to Caffe Lena just a few years before his death in 1977 . Interestingly, in the 1960's, many blues revivalists thought him long dead in part because he sounded very old, even in his early

The brothers first played together at family gatherings in the 1940s. This is episode 15 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs. The Balfa Brothers came to the Caffe in the mid-1970s. Their father, Charles Balfa, a sharecropper, had played fiddle and was a singer. They made their first recordings in 1951. It was the late 1960s that the brothers officially took on the name as The Balfa Brothers. Their mixture of old Cajun tunes

He was called the Godfather of Celtic Music in Canada. This is episode 14 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs. Born into a musical family in 1938 in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, John Allan Cameron went on to bring the music of his roots to people around the world. With a career that spanned 40 years, Mr. Cameron made a significant contribution to the music industry in Canada, paving the way for such artists as Ashley MacIsaac,

Christine Lavin once said, "I think she’s influenced a lot of people who don’t even know her name." This is episode 13 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs. Folk singer, Rosalie Sorrels first came to widespread attention at the 1966 Newport Folk Festival, where she performed traditional songs from her native state of Idaho, and Utah, where she lived with her family. She soon began writing her own material, about life on the

If it is possible, the story of the song and its legend may be bigger than the song. This is Episode 12 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs. Legend has it that while drinking, McLean wrote the lyrics to "American Pie" on a napkin at bar just down from Caffe Lena, where he'd performed earlier that night. The story, which has been retold countless times is that McLean passed out and his buddies saved his napkin to return to

He was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. His fingerpicking guitar style influenced tons of artists, including Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, John Sebastian, Jorma Kaukonen, Keb' Mo', and so many others. This is episode 10 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs. Rev. Gary Davis' students included David Bromberg, Steve Katz, Roy Book Binder, Dave Van Ronk, Rory Block, Larry