It was a time that gave us the Woodstock Music Festival, the return of Bob Dylan from a motorcycle accident, and a new genre of music called reggae through the release of Bob Marley & the Wailers first album.

On Sunday, April 13, Caffé Lena and a host of area musicians will look to commemorate the historic year through a tribute show featuring some of 1969’s most memorable songs. The show is titled “Songs of 1969” and will take place at the Skidmore Dance Theatre. Proceeds will go towards preserving Caffé Lena’s rich tradition at providing quality folk and Americana music to Saratoga Springs for over 40 years.

According to Arthur Gonick, producer of the “Songs of 1969” fundraiser, the venue has been putting on various tribute shows twice a year in April and October for over 10 years. The tribute shows usually take place at Caffé Lena, but this year producers decided to change the show’s location to the Skidmore Dance Theatre due to a lack of space at the small venue.

The line-up will feature some of the area’s biggest musical acts including Rick Bolton and The Dwyer Sisters, Sirsy and the Stompin Jug Ramblers. “We are real happy with the line-up,” Gonick said. “Many of these musicians make their living off of performing, so for them to give their time to help preserve music at Caffé Lena says a lot about the importance they see in the venue’s rich history.”

The list of songs being performed at the show was decided by having each artist list in order from one to seven what songs they wanted to play. Gonick said that when the lists were compiled he was surprised to see that not many of the artists had picked the same songs. 

“Usually at tribute shows you will see artists offer various renditions of the same song,” Gonick said. “But what’s unique about this tribute show is that it was designed so there would be no song duplication.”

Aside from generating revenue through ticket sales, there will also be a silent auction and a raffle offering a weekend getaway to Woodstock and two tickets to Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble.

“The show is going to be a blast,” Gonick said. “People are going to get to see a lot of great acts in a completely different way.”

Caffé Lena is the oldest continually running coffee house in the United States. It was founded in 1960 by Lena Spencer. It features acoustic concerts and cultural events showcasing folk music, traditional music and singer songwriters. Since Spencer’s death in 1989, Caffé Lena has been operated as a not-for-profit organization. Caffé Lena recently tied with Berkley, Calif. Freight and Salvage as best small venue in North America in a vote by the International Folk Alliance.

Money raised from the event will go towards helping to boost the venue’s operation funds and preserve its concert series. Aside from fundraisers, the venue creates a majority of its revenue through memberships and shows being held at the venue.

The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $19.69 in advance and $20 the day of the show. You can purchase tickets by calling Caffé Lena’s toll-free number at 1-800-838-3006 or online at www.caffelena.org.