Café Wha? opened in 1959 in a MacDougal Street basement in Greenwich Village, and it has long been an early stop for artists still building their audiences. Bob Dylan first played the room in January 1961, Jimi Hendrix worked through multiple sets a night there as Jimmy James in the mid-1960s, and Bruce Springsteen did afternoon sets with the Castiles in 1967. In advance of his show this Friday at NYC’s Café Wha? (tickets), we asked Alabama musician Abe Partridge about what it means to play the club.
Greenwich Village has been a proving ground for songwriters since the folk revival, and Café Wha? is one of the few rooms still operating from that era. What’s it like to step onto a stage with that lineage behind it?
… I have been so fortunate to have played this room several times now over the last couple years. It is without question, one of the coolest rooms I play. The folks that played in this room helped pave the way for what it is that I do…. it makes coming back and playing this room something like a pilgrimage.
Many of the artists who built that history were unknowns when they first came down those stairs. If a young songwriter were opening for you this week, what would you tell them before they walk on?
…. Its always about the song. People, tastes, business, styles… they all change. Great songs transcend. Never quit in the pursuit of finding those great ones.
Which artist first made you want to make music yourself? What was it about them (the songs, the voice, the way they held a stage) that pulled you in?
… There are several artists that inspired me to create and perform in the way I do, but none more than Bob Dylan. I discovered him when I was a young 25 year old preacher in Eastern Kentucky undergoing a collapse of faith. I loved how he could tell a really big truth using such simple lyrics and melodies. The first time I heard “Blowin’ in the Wind”… I cried. I wondered what it must feel like to have penned something like that. I have spent the last 20 years of my life trying.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.