Old Bones Odyssey Live

We are excited to be taking Old Bones Odyssey on the road! More dates to be added. Stay tuned for updates!

Meet the Musicians

ELLEN C KAYE
Singer/Songwriter

ETHAN FEIN
Composer/
Arranger
Musical Director Guitar and Banjo

DIANE MONROE
Violin

ANDREW DRELLES
Clarinet, Flute, Alto Flute, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, Bari Sax

KOA HO
Electric Bass Upright Bass

PERRY CAVARI
Drums

SOARA-JOYE ROSS
Backing Vocals

Cameron Rasmussen
Guitar

Ellen Kaye Live @Howland Cultural Center, Beacon, NY, May 6th, 2023 in Old Bones Odyssey.

Ellen Kaye/vocals,Ethan Fein/guitar/banjo, Diane Monroe/violin,
Andrew Drelles/woodwinds,
Koa Ho/bass, Perry Cavari/drums, Cameron Rasmussen/guitar, Soara-Joye Ross/backing vocals.

Video by Nostrand Productions.
© 2023 © 2022 All lyrics by Ellen C Kaye. All music by Ethan Fein. All rights reserved.

This is our project, Old Bones Odyssey.

"We all come from somewhere. Our own past swirls around us, fog like, mysterious, unknowable.
The deeper we get into the telling of our own tales the more the past tugs, nips and bites.
All my life I looked forward, but in my late fifties I found myself looking back to the stories that made my works and the worlds of my ancestors."

- Ellen C Kaye

“Like my Puritan ancestors who arrived in the colonies in 1635 on a ship called The Planter, we’re embarking on an odyssey. Like my Russian Jewish grandparents who came through Ellis Island in the late nineteenth century, we’re setting sail for parts unknown.

We’re exploring American history through a small portal that takes us into my philosophical and ancestral family tree. Each of us comes from a fascinating jumble of people. Each life traces a map that leads us to today. Our aim is discovery. To gain a deeper understanding of the world and our country right now.” – Ellen C Kaye

OBO explores American history through the portal of Ellen’s philosophical family tree. The first show is a deep dive into the music that tells the stories through Americana and roots music.

Ellen’s ancestral roots run deep from her Tuttle ancestors who migrated from England to America in 1635, to Zachariah Burwell, Revolutionary War soldier and original signer of the Articles of Association in Dutchess County, to her deep NYC connection and the evolution of the family-owned iconic restaurant, The Russian Tea Room (from 1947-1996). Ellen and Ethan have written a song called The RTR which captures the magic of The Russian Tea Room.

The songs and stories include her diverse family background, including her Russian-Jewish family on her father’s side and her son’s Chinese-American family who came across the Pacific to seek their fortune and more.

Ellen’s family history in Dutchess County goes back three hundred eighty-five years.

After migrating from England to Connecticut her Burwell ancestors resettled in Dutchess County, then made their way to New Jersey and North Carolina. Ellen’s fourth great-grandfather, Zachariah Burwell, was born in the Catskill Mountains, in New York, in 1745 and signed the Articles of Association in Dutchess County, in June and July, 1775. His son, Zachariah Burwell Jr., was also a soldier in the revolution. Zachariah was a member of the troops sent by George Washington to end the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. Ellen’s third great-grandfather, Benjamin Eli Burwell, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1780.