Wednesday 7/8
8 PM
$12

It's live performance radio with Jay Ungar and Molly Mason and the Dancing On The Air Orchestra featuring Peter Davis and Sam Zucchinni. Each month, they showcase exceptional talent in a wide variety of idioms. The music runs the gamut... whether it's folk, Celtic, swing, Cajun, zydeco, old-time country, bluegrass, rockabilly, blues, jazz, or pop, you can be assured of a fabulous evening of extraordinary live music.

Guests to include:
Jane Rothfield - Jane Rothfield has been playing since childhood. Although her beginnings were of the classical kind, she quickly slipped her mooring and headed off for other shores, along the way mastering an inspiring repertoire of American and Celtic traditional tunes, with a strong smattering of old-time and Scottish-rooted pieces as the centerpiece. Despite decades of collecting the tunes she loves, she has managed to reserve space on her internal hard-drive for lots of original compositions in the tradition of the roots music she is addicted to.

Beppe Gambetta - Beppe is continually composing his personal mosaic of sounds and flavours. From his unique background as an Italian musician in love with both American roots music as well as the music of his native country, Beppe has travelled the world and even crossed the “Iron Curtain” to dazzle and charm music enthusiasts everywhere. After eleven CDs, DVDs, teaching books and collaborations with many other top-flight musicians, Gambetta is increasingly known as one of the true live master innovators of the acoustic guitar.

Kelleigh McKenzie - Armed with a banjo, guitar and amplified stompbox, Oregonian-turned-New Yorker Kelleigh McKenzie (pronounced "Kelly") has a way of mixing folk, blues, old-time and rock into a music all her own. With a whimsical voice and and soaring melodies, she takes the well-worn roads of Americana to unexpected places, thumping and plucking out original tales that veer effortlessly from a graceful social consciousness to lusty romps and sinister seductions.

Tins for Tickets
The Linda - WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio and Food Pantries for the Capital District are pleased to announce Tins for Tickets, a ticket discount program to help collect canned goods for distribution to local food pantries that feed those in need in our neighborhoods. Patrons who purchase tickets at the door for Dancing On The Air, WAMC’s live monthly folk music broadcast at The Linda will receive a $2.00 discount off the cost of a regular $12.00 ticket if they bring one or more canned goods.

Visit www.dancingontheair.com for an archive of past shows.

Made possible in part by Tech Valley Communications.

Or call 518-465-5233 ext. 4 for tickets.

Thursday 7/16
7 PM
$6

Co-presented by the Honest Weight Food Co-op and WAMC’s Documentary Film Series, Food For Thought is a monthly evening of food, film and discussion with a focus on films of social, political, environmental and community interest. Held on the third Thursday of each month, the night will feature food samples by Honest Weight Food Co-op, a feature film screening, and an open panel discussion.

Eating Alaska - What happens to a vegetarian who moves to the last frontier?

Eating Alaska is a serious and humorous film about connecting to where you live and eating locally. It is about trying to break away from the industrial food system when that means not only buying fresh seasonal food from local farmers, but taking part in a world of hunting and gathering. Made by a former city dweller now living on an island in Alaska and married to fisherman and deer hunter, it is a journey into regional food traditions, our connection to the wilderness and to what we put into our mouths.

Honest Weight Food Co-op is a member-owned and operated full-service grocery store. HWFC is open to the public and always welcoming of new members. The store carries the widest selection of local and organic foods, including fresh produce, humanely and locally raised meats, sustainably caught seafood, whole food bulk items, herbs, spices, natural and homeopathic medicines and supplements, a full-service grab-and-go deli, fresh squeezed juice counter, and artisan breads, cheeses and specialty foods. HWFC, located in Albany, has been serving customers through the Capital District for over 30 years.

Or call 518-465-5233 ext. 4 for tickets.

Sunday 7/19
6 PM
$25

Hosted by the Hudson River Sampler's Wanda Fischer and Nick Barr, host of WAMC Bluegrass Time. If you missed out on pledging for tickets during WAMC’s Spring Fund Drive ’09, here’s your chance to see the best of WAMC folk and bluegrass at The Linda!

Featured performers:

Kate Taylor - Born in New England and raised in North Carolina, Kate's dual musical heritage is one she shared with brothers James, Livingston, Hugh, and her late brother Alex. Kate's roots run deep in the soul, gospel and rockabilly sounds of her southern upbringing and in the literate folk, pop and Appalachian stylings that comprise the balance of her family's musical legacy. Though her musical roots are rich and diverse, she blends them seamlessly and effortlessly. Whether performing in a coffeehouse or an amphitheater, Kate has a warmth and joy that creates a connectedness between artist and audience that is enduring.

Jim Gaudet - Albany, New York's Jim Gaudet has paid his dues to both the stage and his age before meeting up with his muse. He sang his first original when he was thirty somethin' -- in a voice with the gentle authority of someone who'd lived a little life already, been a little up and a little down, who'd traveled as a musician, stayed home as a father, and grappled with the conflicting demands of both. Jim is a folksinger -- but without all that microscopic self-examination and tedious political correctness. Mostly, he's a storyteller -- and he does it extremely well. Whether singing about a baseball hero, a death row inmate, or a childhood love, Jim's straightforward approach is remarkably refreshing. With the help of The Railroad Boys (bassist/vocalist, Bob Ristau and mandolinist/guitarist, Sten Isachsen), Gaudet is anchoring his deft wordplay and savvy songcraft in the classic roots music that so thrilled him as a young man.

Betty and the Baby Boomers - Betty Boomer, Jean Valla McAvoy, Paul Rubeo, and Steve Stannehave have been singing together for twenty years not to become folk stars— they all enjoy satisfying careers in teaching—but, as Sing Out! noted, for the love of making good music. Their talent has been recognized. The engaging musical and stage presence of the group’s namesake, Betty Boomer, cements the bonds between the quartet and their audiences. According to the Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal, she and Jean “have vocal talents clear as a Catskill Mountain stream.” Jean Valla McAvoy’s compositions stand out in the Boomer’s repertoire.

Bates + Barr - Bates + Barr is a dynamic musical duo consisting of Bob Bates and Nick Barr. Their repertoire includes many Louvin Brothers tunes, as well as numerous tunes from the country and bluegrass libraries, and originals.

Bob Bates fronts his own band The Bob Bates Band and teaches music for a living. He has played the Grand Ole Opry many times with Charlie Louvin. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and is proficient in all forms of music. He sings lead and harmony parts and plays a number of musical instruments including guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bass and banjo.

Nick Barr is a radio personality, hosting a bluegrass music show on WAMC Northeast Public Radio. He has several music affiliations in addition to Bates + Barr. He sings lead and harmony parts and plays fiddle, mandolin, bass, guiitar and banjo.

Or call 518-465-5233 ext. 4 for tickets.

Wednesday 7/22
8 PM
$20

As both a solo artist and the front man for enduring cult favorites American Music Club, Mark Eitzel established himself among the truly powerful forces in contemporary music; a hauntingly evocative singer, he earned even greater notoriety for his brilliance as a composer, combining the energy of punk, the pastoral beauty of folk, and the melodrama of lounge music to build one of the most impressive and darkly poetic bodies of songs in the modern pop canon. Born in Walnut Creek, CA, Eitzel's military upbringing led him everywhere from Great Britain to Columbus, OH; His love/hate relationship with the bottle going on to fuel much of his subsequent work as a performer. Inspired by punk, he eventually formed his own group, the Naked Skinnies, and with them relocated to San Francisco in 1980; there the band quickly dissolved, and three years later he formed American Music Club.

AMC's 12-year existence was tumultuous, to say the least; Despite the lavish critical praise heaped on albums like 1991's Everclear (in which Rolling Stone labeled him best songwriter and rated the album with best of the year) and 1993's Mercury, the group never rose beyond a fierce cult following. Eitzel issued his solo debut, Songs of Love in 1990, a live acoustic set recorded in London (British audiences being much more receptive to his music than their American counterparts). A subsequent solo single on Matador, the lovely "Take Courage," increased rumors of the band's impending breakup, but they did not truly implode until after the release of 1994's San Francisco. At that point, Eitzel began pursuing his solo career in earnest, debuting in 1996 with the jazzy 60 Watt Silver Lining. Eitzel's subsequent solo career soon found him following a wildly eclectic path. In 1997, Eitzel teamed up with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, and in a matter of days they wrote and recorded West, which matched Eitzel's verse with Buck's intelligent and engaging pop melodies. His next album, 1998's Caught In A Trap And I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby, was an unusually stark and downbeat affair, recorded in part with the assistance of Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and James McNew from Yo La Tengo. Eitzel next embraced both pop and electronics with 2001's The Invisible Man, and in 2002 he recorded two albums of covers - a tribute to the work of other songwriters on Music for Courage and Confidence, and a look back at his own songs for American Music Club as performed with a group of Greek folk musicians on The Ugly American. American Music Club recently reformed and in 2008 released The Golden Age on Merge Records. Eitzel is currently working on the next American Music Club album, a solo record, another album with Peter Buck (REM) and a musical that he co-wrote with Simon Stephens in London.

Or call 518-465-5233 ext. 4 for tickets.

Thursday 7/23
7 PM
FREE

The Linda and Crumbs.net, the online place where all musicians and local music fans start the process of networking with everyone who’s anyone in the Capital Region music business, have joined to present Crumbs Night Out at The Linda. Usually the fourth Thursday of each month we bring the official hub of the Capital Region music scene off the internet and into The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio. The evening features a broadcast interview and performance with a regional artists hosted by WAMC’s Howard Glassman, a special mid-show mixer hosted by Mike Guzzo of Crumbs, and an industry panel discussion with special guests moderated by local entertainment lawyer, writer and musician Paul Rapp on topics related to helping you find your way in the independent music business. Vendor tables and local online classified music ad updates from Crumbs round out an evening for both musicians and music fans alike.

Musical Guest: Paper And Sand - Formed in 2006 by good friends who had met during their studies at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, Paper and Sand takes structured pop songs, injects them with a healthy dose of music-nerd odd times and weird noises, and makes them very, very loud. They've quickly made an impact on NY's music scene on the strength of their powerful live performance and the nuanced songwriting of frontman Wil Farr.Paper and Sand's debut album, “Wolf at My Door,” was released in 2007 to an enthusiastic reception and selected as a Featured Release on iTunes. They have appeared on NY's Indigo TV and filmed a live performance for Fox Television's Fearless Music.

The band recently released their second album, titled “Thick as Thieves.” Their 2009 touring schedule will take them across the eastern half of the country.

This Month’s Panel Discussion: TBA

This month's panel:

Paul Rapp - entertainment attorney. Paul has represented and advised businesses, organizations and individuals in the creative sphere. Information, including text, images, sounds, and ideas, increasingly has become the currency of modern society. More than ever, those who create, own, and maintain such information need to protect and preserve their assets. In addition to an extensive knowledge of general principles of law, Paul Rapp provides expertise in the areas of law that are implicated by creative and expressive endeavors.

Paul Czech - entertainment attorney. Paul has developed a unique expertise and understanding of this rapidly changing segment of the music and entertainment industry. His music entertainment experience includes past ownership of a management company, YB Entertainment Group which in its heyday was home to several developing hip-hop and rock-n-roll performers. As CEO of Icarus Digital - a music download and subscription service - Paul has developed a unique expertise and understanding of this rapidly changing segment of the music and entertainment industry

Media Sponsor: Exit 97.7 WEXT

Or call 518-465-5233 ext. 4 for tickets.

Saturday 8/8
8 PM
$25

An award-winning guitarist, Ronnie Earl has served as an Associate Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music, taught at the National Guitar summer workshop in Connecticut, and gives private lessons. He has played alongside such legends as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers Band and many others, including, B.B. King, who said about Ronnie, “I feel the respect and affection for him that a father feels for his son. He is one of the most serious blues guitarists you can find today. He makes me proud.”

Ronnie earned the Blues Audience Readers Poll Award for New England's Outstanding Blues Guitarist 2008. Mr. Earl’s inspired mix of blues, soul, and gospel music, perfectly frame his phenomenal guitar skills. The contribution of The Broadcasters is obvious from the first note: Dave Limina’s sterling work on Hammond B3 and piano provides a bedrock for the guitar playing, while drummer Lorne Entress and Jim Mouradian on bass are as solid and uplifting a rhythm section as can be imagined. Ronnie Earl’s new CD, Living in the Light, is scheduled for U.S. Release on June 2, 2009. Like his other albums, it’s a mix of blues, soul and gospel, all marked by his distinctive guitar style and the passionate conviction he brings to every track.

Or call 518-465-5233 ext. 4 for tickets.