SARATOGA SPRINGS — Steve Forbert kicked off his recording career with his acclaimed 1978 debut album, “Alive On Arrival,” will perform at Caffe Lena on Oct. 14. 

Forbert has released 20 studio albums. His 1979 LP, “Jackrabbit Slim,” spawned the hit single  “Romeo’s Tune,” and his songs have been covered by a wide range of artists, from Keith Urban and Rosanne Cash to Marty Stuart and John Popper. Forbert also appeared opposite Cyndi Lauper in her 1983 iconic music video for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”

For more information about the Oct. 14 show, go to: www.caffelena.org 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Local resident John Oliver has published a new book of words – 365 vignettes, creating a vibrant picture of an astonishing life, he says. 

Not to be confused with John Oliver of TV fame – “I spend hours explaining I’m not the HBO guy,” he created a decade ago the character of JPV Oliver, whom he explains as “an overweening snob who’s posh, eccentric, deeply ridiculous and who drinks too much…” 

The book – “I Know This Looks Bad: Errors and Graces in a Louche Life” – boasts a flair for internationalism and a proper-dripping cadence that melts 190 pages of verse into soothing tones that manifest in the inner ear, inscribed perhaps, from his graduate school days in Canterbury.    

Oliver was born in nearby Amsterdam, NY in 1953, seven months after his parents were wed. “Students of nuptial norms and human gestation will note a squiggle in the timeline,” he writes. “I was the giddy-up around their wedding.” 

His working life began as a beer truck driver in Albany during the 1970s, before catching a gig as a PR director for the NYS Nurses’ Association. “Soon after I signed on, 5,500 NYSNA union members walked out of New York City hospitals in a wildly illegal job action,” he explains.

For locals there are breakfasts on Broadway at posh Spa City hotels -“the bill was equal to the 2018 GDP of Belgium,” Church Street patios lined with the men wearing Brooks Brothers jackets and $190 jeans,    and upstate funerals “in a down-at-the-heels river town, where tiny houses smell of cigarettes and heartbreak.” There is something for just about everyone. “(And) if you don’t like the page you’re on, try another one,” he points out. “I mean, some of this stuff is good.”  Indeed. 

“I Know This Looks Bad: Errors and Graces in a Louche Life,” published by Epigraph Books is available directly from Oliver. For more information, and to purchase the book, drop him a line via email at: Oliverj859@aol.com. 

GRANVILLE — The Slate Valley Museum is welcoming back The Traveling Paints for the third session of its 2021 evening art series, Sip & Paint on Slate, Colors of the Seasons. 

For the fall Sip & Paint event, participants will create a colorful autumn scene with a covered bridge on a Slate Valley red roofing tile. Attendees will be led by an instructor from The Traveling Paints in creating their own version of the featured painting, all while sipping and enjoying the company of other painters. 

The event will be held on Friday, Oct. 1, from 7-9 p.m. at the Museum. Pre-registration is required. Tickets are $40 per person and include all art materials, one beverage ticket, and light snacks. Drinks will include wine and a selection of non-alcoholic options. Anyone planning to consume alcoholic beverages should come prepared to show valid ID. 

Space is limited. Those interested in registering can visit the Museum’s website at www.SlateValleyMuseum.org, locate the event on the calendar, and download a registration form. You can also call the Museum at 518-642-1417 or email Wendy at associate@slatevalleymuseum.org. The Slate Valley Museum is located at 17 Water St., in Granville. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS —Saratoga Jewish Community Arts kicks off its Fall 2021 season with discussion of the documentary film, Little White Lie, by filmmaker Lacey Schwartz Delgado who tells her personal, provocative story while raising questions of identity, family, race, and the mistakes of our parents. 

Lacey Schwartz Delgado grew up in a typical upper middle class Jewish family in Woodstock, NY, with loving parents and a strong sense of her identity, despite the open questions from those around her about how a white girl could have such dark skin. She believed her family’s explanation that her looks were inherited from her dark-skinned Sicilian grandfather. However, something in her gut made her unsettled.

At age 18, she finally confronted her mother and learned the truth. Her biological father was not the man who raised her, but a black man, known to her and her family over the years, with whom her mother had an affair. Lacey doesn’t acknowledge her newly discovered black identity with her white family. When she entered college and its social scene, the looks she received from her new African American friends led her to rethink how she had viewed herself. It took more than another decade to begin to reconcile the hidden pieces of her life.

The Zoom panel discussion of Little White Lie will take place 7 p.m. Sept. 26. Little White Lie is available for viewing on YouTube and Amazon Prime. Registration is required and is available by emailing sjca.sjcf@gmail.com. For more information: www.saratogajewishculturalfestival.org and Facebook. The SJCA series is made possible by a grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern NY and sponsorship by Temple Sinai of Saratoga Springs.

ALBANY — The Egg has announced the following changes to its concert schedule:

The Milk Carton Kids, Friday, Sept. 24: Due to health concerns, this concert has been rescheduled. The new date is Friday, April 8, 2022. 

Los Lobos, Sunday, Sept. 26: Alejandro Escovedo, who was originally scheduled to open this show will not be appearing.

Tanya Tucker, Sunday, Nov. 7:  Due to health concerns, this concert has been cancelled.

George Winston, Sunday, Nov. 21: Due to health concerns, this concert has been cancelled.

For further information, call The Egg Box Office: 518-473-1845

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Joyce Carol Oates – in conversation with Salmagundi founder Robert Boyers (4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16) and Russell Banks – in conversation with Yaddo President Elaina Richardson (at 7), represent the Keynote Sessions of the Saratoga Book Festival, which will site its opening ceremony 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15 at the Inn at Saratoga and continue all day Saturday with a variety of programs at multiple locations across the Spa City. For Festival information, go to: www.saratogabookfestival.org 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Home Made Theater’s new production, “Almost, Maine,” will have a limited, seven performance engagement at Saratoga Arts, 320 Broadway, starting Sept. 24. 

Written by playwright and Tony-Award nominated actor John Cariani, and directed by Michael McDermott, the show casts Toni Anderson-Sommo, in the role of “Glory” – a woman broken-hearted over the loss of her husband, after he ran away with someone else. 

“It allows me to be a little New Age and hippie-ish,” says Anderson-Sommo, a recent retiree from the Hudson Falls School District who now teaches English Literature and Creative Writing at the State University of New York – Adirondack in Queensbury. 

“You’d be amazed at how many teachers are actually actors and actresses,” she says. “I think that’s because we’re used to standing in front of a large group and performing to keep their attention.”

Performances will take place Sept. 24, 25, Oct. 1, 2 at 8 p.m., and Sept. 26 and Oct. 2 and 3 at 2 p.m.

The performance at Saratoga Arts marks a venue change for the popular Saratoga Springs community theater company, which has performed nearly 200 productions at Spa Little Theater in the State Park since the historic landmark became its home stage in 1986. 

The age of the building presents COVID-era challenges that cannot be overcome in time to ensure that patrons, casts, crew, and volunteers are kept safe. As such, beginning with the production of “Almost, Maine,” Home Made Theater will stage five performances in the Dee Sarno Theater at Saratoga Arts – located at 320 Broadway – between Sept. 24, 2021 and June 19, 2022.  An “Off-Broadway” site at the Wilton Mall will provide the additional space and necessary accommodations for rehearsals, a scene workshop, and storage. 

Single tickets, plus information and subscriptions to Home Made Theater’s entire 2021-2022 season are available on their website, www.HomeMadeTheater.org, or by calling 518-587-4427 during regular business hours.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Ballston Spa resident and artist Barbara King will have works on display at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 25. King’s interest in art began with her studies at the Fleisher Memorial in Philadelphia, and her mediums include pen and ink, line drawings, pencil, pastel, charcoal drawings, as well as oil and acrylic paintings. Her primary interest is drawing figures and faces. 

ALBANY — The UAlbany Performing Arts Center will present two programs in one weekend to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month. 

An Evening of Flamenco Music and Film will take place 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1. Flamenco guitarist Maria Zemantauski will perform a solo set followed by the screening of Flamenco Vivo’s 6Hilos (6Threads) which pays homage to the Golden Age of Flamenco. 

Several of the artists featured in the film will be performing live with Flamenco Vivo when the company presents Tablao Flamenco on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m.  Both events will take place at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown campus of the University at Albany.

Guitarist and composer Maria Zemantauski has performed in Spain, Italy and across the continental United States to great acclaim. Based in upstate New York, she maintains an active career as a teacher, lecturer and performer; delighting audiences as a soloist or as the founder and director of The Maria Z Ensemble. Zematauski is on the faculty in the Department of Fine Arts, Theater Arts & Digital Media at Hudson Valley Community College where she has also been the Coordinator of Cultural Affairs since 2004. 

The two evening programs are made possible through the ArtsCONNECT program of Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, and with funds from the NYS DanceForce, a partnership program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Governor and Legislature. 

Admission to An Evening of Flamenco Music and Film is free. No tickets or reservations are required.  Advance tickets to Flamenco Vivo’s performance are $15 for the general public and $10 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff.  Tickets purchased on the day of the show are $20 for the general public and $15 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff.  For reservations and further information, contact the Box Office at 518-442-3997 or visit the Performing Arts Center website at www.albany.edu/pac. Individual tickets are also available through The Egg Box Office or on-line at www.theegg.org 

HUDSON FALLS — Walter Trout, set to release his 29th solo album over a career that has spanned the globe, performs at The Strand Theatre, 210 Main Street, Hudson Falls on Tuesday, Oct. 12. Show time is 7:30 p.m.

In addition to his solo work, Trout has shared the stage as a sideman with Jesse Ed Davis, Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, Lowell Fulson, Joe Tex, and John Mayall, among others. 

Tickets are $30 General Admission. Call 518-832-3484 or online through Brown Paper Tickets, at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5158312. Please note this performance is requiring all fans to be fully vaccinated or to provide PRINTED proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of the event. 

For more information, please call 518-832-3484 or go to www.hudsonrivermusichall.org or www.mystrandtheater.org . The Hudson River Music Hall, Productions, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit.