Show at Hudson River Coffee House

By JAIRED CROFUT
Contributing Writer

On Friday, October 28, the Hudson River Coffee House, located on the corner of Quail and Hudson in the Pine Hills district of Albany, will host local artist Olivia Quillio and California based singer-songwriter John Craigie for a free concert showcasing their work. The show begins at 8 pm and is expected to last until after 11.

The concert will be an end to a mini tour for the pair in a string of concerts they have performed together in the past couple of weeks around the Northeast. So far, they have been to Abelines Lounge in Rochester, and headed out to Potsdam for a gig scheduled at a place called Hurley’s.

This will be the second time in one year the pair has teamed up together for a concert at the coffee house. They performed together at the venue last April.

“It’s really exciting to be on the East Coast,” said Craigie, who is currently on a Northeast tour promoting his seventh studio album, a modern-day folk compilation titled October is the Kindest Month.

Although Craigie usually performs as a solo artist, he is expected to be teaming up with Quillio for at least a few tunes Friday night.

Quillio, a local artist from Troy, is the winner of the second annual Garage to Glory competition, an event co-produced by the College of Saint Rose and the Times Union. She has built up a considerable fan base in Albany over the past few years. She is often noted for her powerful and passionate voice.

The venue, which opened its doors for the first time last December, has come a long way since its grand opening, recently winning the Best New Venue Award by Metroland, a local capital region newspaper. The café’s owner, Anton Pasquill, 24 of Scotia was shocked when he learned of the win.

“It came as a surprise because I don’t advertise with Metroland, I think I have a strong enough presence just within the music scene that they felt like I really deserve the award” said Pasquill.

The award seems to be well deserved. Since its opening, Hudson River Coffee House has become a hot bed of underground music in the past year, hosting an extensive list of local artists that include Sunny Side of the Street Band, Meagan Duffy and the Big News, Summer People, Aficionado, the Lucky Jukebox Brigade, Secret Release, and After The fall, a band considered by many to be Albany’s premier punk band.

“It’s bridging a community between the music scene and the colleges, it’s important to have a venue uptown for music like this largely due to the location. I’m grateful to have a music venue located up-town” said Thomas Paul Lafond, of local band Dirty Paris.

When the Coffee House first started up a little less than one year ago, it used to be that Pasquill made all of the contacts for booking musicians. Things have now changed dramatically.

“It’s at the point now where a lot of people are like, you’ve got to talk to this venue. Which is why I am at the point now where I can’t even keep up with the bookings” said Pasquill.

The music scene at Hudson River Coffee House only seems to be growing. Starving Artist Thursday’s, an open-mic event every Thurdsay night at 8 hosted by Pasquill himself, seems to be quickly becoming a local favorite.

“The open mic at the Hudson River Coffee house is by far one of the outstanding open mics in the Capital districts” says Mike DeMarco, a local from Schenectady who frequents the music scene at the coffee house.

“It’s going to be a very good show, there’s going to be great music. Olivia has a great voice, one of the best in the Capital Region. And it’s going to be a hell of a show, hands down” Pasquill said.

The concert will be free and open to anyone. “A lot of people pay to see these same other people in other locations” Pasquill said.

More information on the show can be found at www.hudsonrivercoffee.com.