The Henhouse Prowlers have built their career on the idea that a banjo can cross any border. After 20 years, 34 countries across five continents, and State Department tours in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Kyrgyzstan, they have the passport stamps to prove it. On Unravel, their 2025 record, they take stock of what those years have cost: war, personal quests, the passage of time, and tremendous loss. The “We Are All Just Human Beings Tour” brings that record to Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs on Thursday, August 20.
About the Show
The Chicago quartet: Ben Wright (banjo, vocals), Chris Dollar (guitar, vocals), Jon Goldfine (bass, vocals), and Jake Howard (mandolin, vocals). They have spent the better part of two decades as cultural diplomats, performing in Uganda, Pakistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Kyrgyzstan through their nonprofit Bluegrass Ambassadors and the U.S. State Department; that experience carries into how they play. Hypebot calls it “soaring harmonies” and “ferocious picking on a mission”; the Anchorage Folk Festival described them as “rooted in tradition yet unafraid to venture into new musical territory.” Unravel, their latest record following 2023’s Lead and Iron, was produced by Stephen Mougin (Sam Bush Band) and released April 18, 2025 on Dark Shadow Recording. The band describes it as “an amalgamation of the thoughts, feelings and experiences of four wildly different humans,” and Bluegrass Today’s review found the material wide-ranging: from the funk-driven “Space Man” to a cover of Genesis’s “Land of Confusion,” calling it a record with “seemingly limitless layers” that leave “indelible impressions.” The 21-date tour runs through October 18, 2026; this Saratoga stop is mid-swing on an upstate New York stretch.
Venue & Logistics
Caffè Lena holds 110 people and sits at 47 Phila Street in downtown Saratoga Springs. It is one of those listening rooms in the Capital Region where the scale is part of what you are there for. For a band that has played stages across 34 countries, 110 seats is a meaningful number. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.; the show runs until 9:00 p.m.
Tickets
General admission is $30.37, with member pricing at $27.11 and child/student tickets at $15.18 (all prices include fees). Caffè Lena is also streaming the show live via CaffeLena TV for $5, with 100% of those proceeds going directly to the artists. The venue prohibits ticket resale above face value; purchases found in violation may be canceled without refund. Buy tickets