In the late 1980s the folk music revival was booming in Greenwich Village. Quite apart from the singer-songwriters of the Fast Folk community (Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, et al.), an alt-folk group was coming togerther, formed by Tom Goodkind, talent booker at the Peppermint Lounge, punk rocker Bruce Paskow, and journalist-singer Lauren Agnelli. Some of their repertoire drew on classic folk songs, and their look was neo-beatnik, with striped shirts and berets, but their attitude was more cutting edge. They were the Washington Squares. The band's flair and musicianship quickly caught on, leading to two successful albums on Gold Castle Records (produced by Mitch Easter and Steven Soles), but with Paskow's death in the early '90s, they disbanded. The surviving Squares reunited to perform at City Winery in 2018.