Our Velo Valley

by | Aug 25, 2011 | News

Sure, the weather here might occasionally leave a visitor from, say, California pining for a sunny day in Sausalito. And for a devoted Coloradan, the hills of Western Massachusetts, even those slightly taller mounts in Vermont and New Hampshire, just don’t...
Nightcrawler: The Royal Treatment

Nightcrawler: The Royal Treatment

by | Aug 25, 2011 | Music

They’ve played it by the numbers. Even given odes to everything from animals and insects to human anatomy. But for this, the 21st installment of the Northampton Arts Council’s annual end-of-summer fundraiser Transperformance, things seem to have taken a...

Behind the Beat: In The Mouth a Desert

by | Aug 25, 2011 | Music

Dan McLeod may claim a loose grip on music theory, but that hasn’t prevented him from producing some of the most haunting and affecting sounds to come whistling out of the Valley in years. “Time signatures, scales, keys, chords and finger-style...
Art in Paradise: Perfect Happenstance

Art in Paradise: Perfect Happenstance

by | Aug 25, 2011 | Music

Walk into Carmelina’s in Hadley any Friday night, and you’re likely to find the restaurant’s usual trappings: scurrying servers, a bartender standing in front of gleaming bottles, and loads of diners queueing up for alfredo in the low-lit cool. But...
Behind the Beat: Born Again

Behind the Beat: Born Again

by | Aug 25, 2011 | Music

Local band Rebirth coalesced after the death of a loved one. “We initially came together after a close friend ascended,” explains Cinamon Blair, who provides vocals, Rhodes and bass for the quintet. “Ian [Hamel (ukulele, Rhodes, bass)] wrote the tune...