Inside Dave Van Ronk: Remembering the Mayor of MacDougal Street

Inside Dave Van Ronk: Remembering the Mayor of MacDougal Street | Live at Cafe Wha? | Saturday, February 21st| 5PM Doors, 6PM Show

On Saturday, February 21, Café Wha! hosts Inside Dave Van Ronk: Remembering the Mayor of MacDougal Street, a heartfelt tribute to the legendary folk icon whose wit, mentorship, and musical genius helped define the Greenwich Village scene.

Often called the “Mayor of MacDougal Street,” Dave Van Ronk was more than a performer—he was a storyteller, a mentor, and a living bridge between the past and the future of American music. This special evening will feature songs, stories, and reflections from an exceptional lineup of artists whose lives and work were shaped by Van Ronk’s legacy.

The event is presented by Fabio Fantuzzi with David Massengill, Elijah Wald, Joan Hepburn, Paul Foglino, and special guests.

“Van Ronk seemed ancient, battle-tested. Every night I felt like I was sitting at the feet of a timeworn monument. (…) Later, when I would record my first album, half the cuts on it were renditions of songs that Van Ronk did. (…) He was big, sky-high, and I looked up to him. He came from the land of giants.”
— Bob Dylan

Elijah Wald
Singer-songwriter, music historian, Grammy Award winner, and author of thirteen books, including Dylan Goes Electric!(adapted into the film A Complete Unknown) and The Mayor of MacDougal Street, which inspired the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. A close friend of Dave Van Ronk, Wald has often described him as a mentor and guiding force.

David Massengill
American folk singer-songwriter and virtuoso of guitar and Appalachian dulcimer. His songs have been recorded by Joan Baez, The Roches, and Jack Hardy. Van Ronk, who mentored him, once said that Massengill was one of the very few musicians who could “take the dull out of dulcimer.”

Paul Foglino

Songwriter and performer with country-rock mainstays 5 Chinese Brothers in the 1990s. In the 2000s, he wrote three musicals for La MaMa ETC, winning the Jury Prize for Music and Lyrics at the 2005 New York Fringe Festival. He later wrote and produced two critically acclaimed comeback albums for Ellen Foley. Most importantly, the two years he spent studying with Dave Van Ronk profoundly shaped his life and informed his 2016 solo album Inside Another Side, as well as his forthcoming release Monday Street (out in March).

Joan Levy Hepburn is a painter and musician, who met Dave in February 1977 and traded her paintings for guitar lessons with him. He nicknamed her Antelope, and composed The Antelope Rag in her honor. She currently paints and performs with The Joe Bouchard Band.

Fabio Fantuzzi
Academic, curator, and singer-songwriter; author of Bob Dylan and the Arts and Norman Raeben (1901–1978): The Wandering Painting. His books, essays, plays, and albums are infused with folk and blues traditions and Village stories, and he has shared the stage with many pillars of the New York folk scene.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to celebrate the timeless music and influence of Dave Van Ronk in the iconic setting of Cafe Wha! —one of the very places where Van Ronk made history.

#LiveatCafeWha?

Please Note: Two Item Minimum Per Attendee. All Sales Final

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Cafe Wha?