Each Wednesday and Sunday evening at 8 p.m. “Live At The Linda” brings you some of the best musical acts to grace the stage at The Linda - WAMC's Performing Arts Studio. This week features Jim Gaudet and The Railroad Boys from August 2020, and Happy Traum from March 2016.
Happy Traum, Woodstock’s own folk music legend, was smitten by American folk music as a teenager and began playing guitar and 5-string banjo. He was an active participant of the legendary Washington Square/Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1950s and ‘60s, and studied guitar with the famed blues master, Brownie Mcghee.
Happy's first appearance in a recording studio was at a historic session in 1963 when a group of young folk musicians, including Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Pete Seeger, Peter Lafarge and The Freedom Singers gathered in folkways records' studio for an album called “Broadsides.” Happy with his group, The New World Singers, cut the first recorded version of "Blowin' in the Wind."
In 1967, Jane, Happy and their three children moved to Woodstock, NY, and happy and his brother Artie, formed a duet that, according to Rolling Stone, "defined the northeast folk music style." This strong musical partnership lasted until Artie's untimely death in July 2006.
Now Happy has played with a who’s who of folk and cultural legends too numerous to list but perhaps his most lasting legacy is Homespun Tapes, which he and his wife, Jane, co-founded in 1967. This dynamic and growing company has a catalog of more than 500 music lessons on DVDs, CDs, books, and downloads. Their products are distributed and sold around the globe.
Alright, let’s get ready to get happy, here is Happy Traum live at The Linda from March of 2016.
Jim Gaudet and The Railroad Boys make one feel as if they’re traveling in time, maybe back to Louisiana in 1963. Mel Guarino of the Bluebillies said, “there is no other band that I know that can sound so modern and yet so classic and nostalgic. It’s at once, “old timey” and “timeless”, echoing the sound and feel of maybe Hank Williams or the Stanley Brothers, with a “hill-billy” edge.”
Their music philosophy is the basic belief that audience participation leads to a deeper and more meaningful connection. It’s typical to hear the band’s audience enthusiastically whooping it up during songs like their signature “shout along” titled “So Far So Good” or maybe dancing to “If It Ain’t Cajun.” The RR boy’s closeness with their listeners is obvious, no matter where they perform. They essentially create one big “down home” family who’ve been brought together by their shared experience through Jim and The Railroad Boys’ songs and musical stories. It’s always just a real good time. If you want to hear more, Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys will be at The Linda in person on Thursday July 15th and you can join them. Tickets at thelinda.org. But now, from August of 2020, here are Jim Gaudet and The Railroad Boys.
Now before we go let’s get a preview of just who’s joining us in person at The Linda on July 29th. Doctor Baker started out as an acoustic duo featuring singer-songwriter Ed Schwarzschild and guitarist Iggy Calabria, two wayward Philadelphians who met in here in Albany, NY. After adding a few more members, Doctor Baker sounds a lot louder, and the band's strong, sound medicine has begun to heal audiences in the capital region and beyond. Here is Doctor Baker with “Weather or Not.”
The Doctor is in the house at The Linda on July 29th with special guest comic Michael Briganti. Tickets at the linda.org
Starting this week and going through September, we’ll have the best live and local performers playing the Linda stage, along with some special guests. Join us for “Open for Business.”
The NoLaNauts with special guest comic Chris Lamberth – July 9th
Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys – July 15th
Wild Adriatic – July 22nd
Doctor Baker with special guest comic Michael Briganti – July 29th
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