Lach

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For other uses, see Lach (disambiguation).

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Lach is a musician associated with the anti-folk movement. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was trained as a classical pianist from an early age only to abandon it once he heard The Sex Pistols, The Jam and The Clash for the first time. Realizing he was a songwriter, Lach backtracked and explored the roots, relishing the works of Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Woody Guthrie. In the early 80's Lach went to Greenwich Village's Folk City but soon had to move to the Lower East Side opening his own illegal after-hours club "The Fort". The same week Lach opened The Fort, Folk City held the New York Folk Festival, so, Lach held the first New York Antifolk Festival. Thus, Antifolk was born.

The Fort became a mobile club inhabiting various New York hotspots, finally settling down at The Sidewalk Café on Avenue A where it now resides. Lach still hosts the weekly Open Mic nights, where he known for his witty remarks on the performers.

Timeout London calls Lach "NYC's living legend" and credits him side-by-side with Bob Dylan, Syd Barrett and The New York Dolls as the roots of the modern singer-songwriter movement. The NY Times labels Lach "The mastermind of Antifolk, like a Lower East Side rendezvous of Bob Dylan and Patti Smith." The Antifolk movement that Lach started in the early eighties has produced such well-known performers as Beck, Regina Spektor, The Moldy Peaches, Hamell on Trial and many more.

Since those early days Lach's Antifolk movement has grown into a worldwide phenomenon and Lach's music, style and attitude has influenced countless performers. He tours rarely and has released only four albums over twenty years. Each album a critical darling with rave reviews from everyone from Billboard to Mojo to Spin to NME and back again. And still very little is actually known about this shadowed songwriter. In fact, only a few people in the antifolk scene know Lach's real name.^[1]