Life’s a drag!: A day in the life of producer and queen, Magnolia Masquerade
By Hannah Bevis For the Valley Advocate On most days, Andrew Curran, better known as his drag persona Magnolia Masquerade, is a whirlwind of activity, brainstorming ideas for future shows, creating the props that will bring them to life, running the rehearsals with...
Brutal? No, beautiful: Holyoke artist Michael Karmody has found beauty — and a decent living — in concrete creations
By Samuel Gelinas Staff Writer Artist Michael Karmody knows a hard truth about concrete — that it is often associated with sidewalks and jails, not attractive things. But, serious question. What does concrete actually look like? For Karmody, the only serious answer...
Monte Belmonte Wines: What’s going on at Table & Vine in West Springfield?: Something fishy is afoot at the Big Y’s flagship location for fine wine
By Monte Belmonte For the Valley Advocate What is going on at Table & Vine in West Springfield? Given that you are reading a wine column, I assume you partake of the grape. Then you probably know that Table & Vine is the wines, beer and spirits branch of the...
Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: Audience participation required: Three plays raise questions around moral integrity and point of view
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate Plays about difficult subjects, like the consequences of personal actions, politics, and social change, require more of the audience in terms of asking them to consider how their own sense of morality and moral integrity...
Mixtape: New heavy music to initiate summer: Reviewing Warm’s ‘Fastidium’ and TueTewsday’s ‘Shoulda Been Larz’
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate Warm “Fastidium” The moment I pressed play on this album, I couldn’t stop listening to it. At home, mid-chore, I just sat there in a trance-like state until the last track ended. “Fastidium” is the latest release from local...
‘I’ve met friends in my books’: Eric Carle Museum celebrates author, illustrator Grace Lin with retrospective exhibition
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Florence-based author and illustrator Grace Lin is known for books like “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” (for which she received a Newbery Honor in 2010), “The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon,” “The Ugly Vegetables,” and “A Big Mooncake...
A food fest to feel good about: Inaugural Western Mass Vegan Food Fest is this Sunday
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer A new vegan food festival is about to take root in the Pioneer Valley. The inaugural Western Mass Vegan Food Fest will be at Abandoned Building Brewery in Easthampton on Sunday, June 15, from noon to 5 p.m. The vendor lineup includes...
Catharsis meets comedy: ‘Customers From Hell’ show will premiere at the Shea Theater on Sunday, June 15
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Most people who have worked retail and food service jobs have dealt with customers who were rude, annoying, or just plain strange. A new comedy TV series written and filmed in the Pioneer Valley wants to answer the question: what if those...
Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: ‘I just let them grow’: Inside one of the six gardens on this year’s Northampton Garden Tour
By MICKEY RATHBUN For the Valley Advocate John Smith likes it when people stop outside his house, a lovely Carpenter Gothic on a quiet street in Florence, to peek at his garden through the fence. “I tell them, ‘Come on in and have a look around,’” he said. On June 14,...
Holyoke hosts inaugural Paper Festival: Crafts, exhibitions, tours, contests and more in the ‘Paper City’ this Saturday
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Holyoke was known for its thriving paper industry – that’s how it got the nickname “Paper City.” Now, over a century later, the city will celebrate the legacy and impact that paper production had on the...
Profiling ‘The Raider’: New book by UMass history professor Stephen Platt explores the life of a celebrated but unconventional Marine
By STEVE PFARRER For the Gazette Stephen Platt, who teaches 19th and 20th century Chinese history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, made a significant name for himself with his two last books. “Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom,” an account of China’s bloody...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!
The ills of a billion-dollar enterprise: The slow-death of the cannabis industry, and what might be done to reverse the trend
By Gabriel O’Hara Salini For the Valley Advocate The Massachusetts cannabis industry is a billion-dollar enterprise, with over 700 retailers operating across the state. Yet stores are closing, companies are firing their workers and retail and non-retail licenses are...
Mixtape: New heavy music to initiate summer: Reviewing Warm’s ‘Fastidium’ and TueTewsday’s ‘Shoulda Been Larz’
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate Warm “Fastidium” The moment I pressed play on this album, I couldn’t stop listening to it. At home, mid-chore, I just sat there in a trance-like state until the last track ended. “Fastidium” is the latest release from local...
The V-Spot with Yana Tallon-Hicks: How do I transfer my solo orgasms to partnered sex?
Hi Yana, I have no problem with giving myself an orgasm with a vibrator on my clit, but I’ve never managed to orgasm with a partner. I’m OK with that — I’ve greatly enjoy partnered sex without orgasm, but I’d love to broaden my orgasmic horizons. Even bringing the...
Summer of loves: Polyamory in the Valley isn’t what you think
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate “You know what goes on behind closed doors in a polyamorous household?” Fox asks, and I lean in closer. We’re on the phone and he is 800 miles away, so I am leaning toward — nothing. I am on the precipice of something, I...
The Beerhunter: Local Breweries Adapt to a New, Locked-Down World
This article was supposed to be about gathering in large groups.
Stagestruck: Putting Down My Pen
I filed my first article for the Advocate in May 1986. This one is my last. After some 2,000 reviews, previews and features, I’m giving up my ticket to the critic’s proverbial aisle seat and taking my place in line at the box office.
