PREVIEW: Dust Bowl Faeries Return to Caffè Lena After More Than a Decade
Sunday, 1/25 @ Caffè Lena & Saratoga Springs
Photos provided by artist
“We really love a room full of people. We love that energy and that exchange.”
Dust Bowl Faeries will be making their return to Caffè Lena on Sunday, 1/25 for a live show that is not to be missed. But, if for some reason you can’t make it out, the show will also be available to watch via a livestream on Caffè Lena TV.
This will be the second time Dust Bowl Faeries have performed at the legendary venue, with their first being all the way back in June of 2015.
I recently spoke with Ryder Cooley (the group’s ‘faerie queen’) and asked her what the audience could expect that is different from when Dust Bowl Faeries were last at Caffè Lena over a decade ago.
“I would say there are vast differences for the band,” Cooley begins. “We definitely have evolved over the years with our sound. It's much bigger — it's a little bit more rowdy than in the old days. We were still a trio in our original form when we first played Caffè Lena. We’ll be a quartet this time around and will be bringing our new drummer [Ryan Delmolino]. This is our first show with him, which is very exciting.”
It’s not just the lineup which has evolved over time. Cooley tells me the instrumentation of the group will also be a bit different from what longtime fans of the accordion-driven, dark folk group are likely used to.
“We still have the accordion and the saw, which I play, but we'll also have the acoustic guitar and the electric bass for this show. Our original lap-steel player, who did play with us years ago, will not be playing at Caffè Lena this time, but she’s still in the band, so people can hear her at other shows.”
When asked about what she was looking most forward to upon Dust Bowl Faeries’ return, Cooley mentioned that she was excited to play at Caffè Lena after the changes that have occurred to the venue in the last 10 years.
“Caffè Lena has changed so much. The space is so much more opened up. It really felt so tiny when we played there before and they've made this beautiful stage, there's really nice seating and the sound is fantastic.”
Knowing that Dust Bowl Faeries did some livestreamed performances during the pandemic, and that Caffè Lena has continued to do them alongside their seated events, I was curious what Cooley thought of the format, being that Dust Bowl Faeries are primarily known as a live band.
“It was really hard to do the livestream concerts without a live audience. We really love a room full of people. We love that energy and that exchange. But to be able to do both is just the best because then anybody in the world can watch it. I do really love that.”
If you’ve never had the chance to catch a band so eloquently intertwined with dark humor, theatrical costumes and mystical lyrics, this is your opportunity. Don’t miss catching Dust Bowl Faeries in this very intimate setting, and maybe learn something about pixies or witchcraft along the way.
Tickets for Dust Bowl Faeries at Caffè Lena are available at https://www.Caffèlena.org/event/dust-bowl-faeries/
The livestream will be available at https://Caffèlena.tv/programs/live-dust-bowl-faeries?category_id=114990
