School of Music Instructors

Oona Grady & James Gascoyne have been teaching with the Caffe Lena School of Music since its inception, in March 2020. Over the past year and a half they have offered small group instrumental classes in fiddle and tin whistle (Oona), and guitar, ukulele, banjo, and percussion (James). In the summer of 2021, they co-facilitated the inaugural Troubadour in Training Camp with Lena’s School director Vivian Nesbitt, which was met with great enthusiasm. Oona grew up in Ithaca, NY, nurtured by a family and community with deep music roots. Aided by Suzuki violin and Irish fiddle lessons, she began performing with her family band as a teenager, and moved to Ireland at age eighteen to continue her music studies at college, graduating with a B.Mus. In addition to teaching at Lena’s School, Oona maintains a private music studio focusing on Suzuki violin and Irish fiddle.Originally from Louisville, KY, James has been an active participant in the Saratoga arts community since graduating from Skidmore College. He’s toured nationally with various groups performing on bass, guitar, drums, and vocals, all the while maintaining an active local performing schedule and teaching privately when time allows. Oona & James perform locally and regionally as Drank The Gold, a band specializing in traditional Irish and American fiddle music and folk songs, as well as original compositions and arrangements.

Matthew teaches in our After School Folk Ensembles. He is a Saratoga Springs graduate who has studied at The Berklee School of Music, & played with the Saratoga Springs High School Jazz Band. After touring extensively with Let’s Be Leonard, he is a go-to bassist, percussionist and guitarist for Capital Region bands. You can catch him live with the Millstone Rounders, and as the band director for The Rolling Pebbles. Matt is also taking the helm as School of Music Director Jan 1, 2025.

Freebo is a genuine folk, rock and blues icon with over 40 years of recording and touring with many of the great artists of our time (Bonnie Raitt 10 years, CSN, Maria Muldaur, John Mayall, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, Neil Young, & many more). A multi award winner and finalist in numerous songwriting contests, he is regarded as one of the most gifted singer-songwriters of today. In addition, he has appeared on Saturday Night Live, The Muppet Show, The Midnight Special, and in concert with the legendary Spinal Tap.

For over two decades, Gretchen Peters has been one of Nashville’s most beloved and respected artists. Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014 by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, who called her “both a songwriter and a poet,” Peters has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill. Her song “Independence Day” won a CMA Song of the Year award in 1995. She has been nominated for 2 Grammys, a Golden Globe, and numerous other awards.

Eric Wright is a unique cellist. Raised on pure Vermont air and inspired by his love for American Old Time and Irish music, he sets out to incorporate cello into new and traditional music in ways that haven’t been done before. Taking his innovative bowing techniques, chording styles, and ‘the chop’, to new levels, Eric has become a highly sought-after performer, accompanist, producer, session musician, and arranger for all types of folk styles. Eric is a Juno Award winning artist who has performed and recorded with numerous bands including Ruth Moody, Trey Anastasio, Natalie MacMaster, The Fretless, John Reischman, Mairi Rankin, and many others.

Allison de Groot combines love for old-time music, technical skill and a creative approach to the banjo forming her own sound – unique and full of personality. Her collaborations with Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, Bruce Molsky’s trio Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, The Goodbye Girls and Nic Gariess provide spaces to explore the role and depth of clawhammer banjo.

Bruce Molsky is one of the most revered “multi-hyphenated career” ambassadors for America’s old-time mountain music. For decades, he’s been a globetrotting performer and educator, a recording artist with an expansive discography including seven solo albums, well over a dozen collaborations and two Grammy-nominations.

Frank won the youth banjo contest at the Clifftop Appalachian String Band Festival when he was 13 and later placed second over all. He joined the bluegrass band, the Slocan Ramblers in 2010; he is one of the few banjoists who is equally adept at playing amazing clawhammer style, in addition to his virtuosic 3-finger playing.

Folksinger Eliza Gilkyson, a twice Grammy nominated singer/songwriter and Austin “Hall of Fame” inductee has a natural gift for teaching and sharing what she has learned over the course of her 50+ year career in music. She is the recipient of countless Folk Alliance and Chronicle Awards over the years, including Best Songwriter, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Solo Performer. Her songs have been recorded by such notables as Tom Rush, Joan Baez, Bob Geldorf, Rosanne Cash and others, and have appeared on Prime Time Television, PBS specials and in films.

C.B. Smith studied Advanced Songwriting at The New School in NYC with Hugh Prestwood, as well as additional studies with Steve Earle, Mary Gauthier, Richard Thompson and Jimmy Webb. He has written dozens of songs steeped in folk traditions, reflecting his love of bluegrass, blues, folk-rock and other styles. From 2010-2022 he led the Americana band C.B. Smith & the Lucky Devils. C.B. has released two albums of original material, with a third album of original songs due out in 2025.

Judy Wyle has been a singer/songwriter/performer for most of her life. She has been performing at the Caffè Lena since 1997 when she released her first CD of original music, Fire In Your Heart; followed by her 2014 release, Girl in the Silver Leaves, Judy produced and performed two original musical plays at Lena’s: To See Another Spring, in 2017; and Rosemary’s Anahata and The Sound of the Rose, last November, 2022 to sold out houses. She loves to connect with her students to inform and encourage their singing skills. Judy holds a degree in theater from Skidmore College and studied acting with the renowned Stella Adler in New York City.

Long time friends and band-mates, Harold & Bill helm the weekly Thursday Slow Jam at Caffe Lena. They offer support, instruction and guidance for every player in the group. They are members of the highly acclaimed Adirondack Song Dogs, and bring great music infused with community spirit to every occasion!

Dan Navarro’s journey began as a songwriter, often with the late Eric Lowen, for artists as diverse as Pat Benatar, The Bangles, Jackson Browne, Dave Edmunds, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick, The Triplets, Dutch star Marco Borsato, and Austin outlaw legend Rusty Weir. In the 1990s and 2000s, Dan and Eric recorded and toured as the acclaimed acoustic duo Lowen & Navarro until Eric’s retirement in 2009 (and passing in 2012). Dan has transitioned smoothly into a busy solo career.