Eighth Step Coffee House

The Eighth Step Coffee House was founded in Albany New York in 1967, by a group of local churches and was housed for 30 years in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church on the corner of State and Willett Streets. Small (100) concerts and weekly Open Mikes were held in the basement. Larger (300) concerts were held upstairs in the Assembly Hall, which features two Tiffany Windows, one a commemorative window for Joseph Henry. The Eighth Step lost its original home in 2000. It then moved to the Cohoes Music Hall, but after 2003 it had no fixed home. Since 2007 it has been located in Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady, New York. The Eighth Step is run by Margie Rosenkranz who is also attached to the Clearwater Festival in which Pete Seeger is the driving force. The Eighth Step has hosted performers Ani DiFranco, Janis Ian, Greg Brown, Utah Phillips, Sheila Jordan and Richie Havens to name a few. The long list of known and unknown artists with whom The Step has worked includes Pete Seeger, Milt Hinton, Paula Robeson, Janos Starker, Ronnie Gilbert, Holly Near, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Richie Havens, Guy Davis and independent rock phenomenon Ani DiFranco. DiFranco first performed regionally at The Step to an audience of 40 people, then the following year she drew 400 people in the larger hall. The following year Rosenkranz and The Step produced her performance at the Palace Theatre in Albany, NY to over 2,600 people.