Articles
by Advocate Staff | Apr 3, 2020 | Advocate Sessions, Articles, Featured, Music
This week’s Advocate Sessions performer is singer-songwriter JJ Slater, who writes original music that blends together folk-rock and psychedelic pop with jazzy chord progressions. Interview with JJ...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 1, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News
Schools across the state, country and the globe are closed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Here in Massachusetts, though schools are slated to reopen at the beginning of May, they’re now closed per Gov. Charlie Baker’s order. In the meantime, local educators in the...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 1, 2020 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
I’m sad to report that I was among those laid off last week by Valley Advocate parent company Newspapers of New England, which also owns the Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Greenfield Recorder. As you can see, I’m still here writing the Advocate’s...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 1, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, The CDs You Gave Me
Western Mass-based experimental/math rock duo Fred Cracklin takes its name from a live action character played by Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore in the 1990s animated science fiction comedy “Space Ghost Coast to Coast.” The series is set up as a surreal...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 1, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I’m writing to see if you have any advice for the polyamorous community during the COVID-19 outbreak. While there aren’t many cases in Hampshire County [as of writing this question on March 20], my partner and I have decided to work from home and...
by Chris Goudreau | Mar 27, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
This week’s Advocate Sessions performance is by synth duo Fire Letters, which combines synth pop with alternative rock influences. Check out the band’s Sessions video set in the video below. Interview with Fire...
by Chris Rohmann | Apr 1, 2020 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
A ghost light is the single lamp that’s left burning onstage when the theater is dark, the audience has gone home and the cast and crew have called it a night. It’s the light that’s on when all the other lights are off. Ghost lights are shining 24/7 all over the...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 27, 2020 | Articles, Featured
Still not much going on these days in terms of live performances, but there are a few if you know where to look. Here is a hybrid staff picks from the Advocate with a livestream concert, a weird movie, and a couple of TV shows to enjoy. — Dave Home Sessions at the...
by Jennifer Levesque | Mar 27, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Valley Show Girl
A few weeks ago, before this whole quarantine thing happened, I ventured over to downtown Greenfield to catch what would be my last show for quite a bit. I parked my car just in time to see two people pass my parking spot with medical face masks on. If only I knew...
by Luis Fieldman | Mar 25, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News
Editor’s note: Due to the dangers facing those seeking asylum and their families in their home countries, as well as the sensitive natures of their legal cases, the Advocate is using pseudonyms Natty, Eva, and María for asylum seekers featured in this story and...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Mar 25, 2020 | Articles, Featured
As we recognize the many local businesses for being the Best in the Valley in this issue, as voted by our readers, it is a difficult time for businesses of all types — including this one. Realities of the economic effects of the coronavirus have not spared us, and we...
by Jack Brown | Mar 25, 2020 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured
It might seem silly to have a local film column this week. As I write, public schools are shutting down for a three-week hiatus, restaurants are shifting strictly to takeout service, and we’re all avoiding crowds. The long-running Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 24, 2020 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News
The most useful COVID-19 app yet Yes, we all know that toilet paper is in short supply as a result of coronavirus panic shopping, but here’s something new: an app that lets you know exactly how many poops you have left before your toilet paper stockpile runs out....
by Carol Lollis | Mar 25, 2020 | Articles, Featured
I am the mother of three boys who my husband and I have raised together at our home in Westhampton. They are 26, 22, and 19, and only one still lives at home with us. When the kids were young, our house was the one everyone came to. It was always full, there was...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Mar 23, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Podcast
In continuation of Luis Fieldman’s “Seeking Asylum in Western Mass” series, part 2 of the series explores those in the region who are helping asylum seekers settle in western Massachusetts. Jonathan Jenner, a founder of the Western Massachusetts...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 23, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, Middle-aged straight guy here. I’m in a committed, monogamous relationship with a partner who I love very much. We have a great and satisfying physical sex life though naturally there are dry spells, particularly during the winter-time. I love my partner very...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 20, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
The Lost Tribe is a CT-based band that’s led by a drum trio and combines world music jazz with Afro-funk. Check out the band’s Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with The Lost Tribe:
by Advocate Staff | Mar 20, 2020 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured
Today’s forecast: Droplets of iron Swiss and other European astronomers examining a hot, Jupiter-like planet 390 light-years away have discovered that rain falls there in an unusual form: iron droplets. The mega planet, called Wasp-76b, is so hot on its sunny side —...
by Brenda Nelson | Mar 19, 2020 | Articles, Featured
As calendar editor, my job each week is to compile a list of activities and shows occurring in the area, letting readers know of enriching and enjoyable things to do. But now, coronavirus has suddenly caused many of the entertainment and cultural venues in the area to...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 19, 2020 | Articles, Featured
We’re doing things a bit differently this week. With so many events canceled due to fears over the coronavirus, our staff picks this week are dedicated to things we’re reading or doing on our own as we work to “flatten the curve” and participate in social distancing....
by Luis Fieldman | Mar 18, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News
Editor’s note: Due to the dangers facing those seeking asylum and their families in their home countries, as well as the sensitive nature of their legal cases, the Advocate is using pseudonyms Valentina, Isabel, Ramon, and Santiago for asylum seekers featured in this...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Mar 18, 2020 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
As news pours in regarding the coronavirus, it is becoming clear the scale of how many people’s lives are affected in such dramatic ways. In terms of the Advocate’s function as the keeper of the community calendar, we’re having to reinvent as we go with the vast...
by Monte Belmonte | Mar 18, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Monte Belmonte Wines
With the threat of coronavirus, the increasing potential that we will have at least four more years of a demagogue in the highest office, and Tom Brady considering leaving the Patriots, we are living in the End Times. You need to get yourself prepared. “Preppers”...
by Chris Goudreau | Mar 17, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News
David Katz, a retired family practice physician from Northampton, arrived in Brownsville, Texas, on March 14 to help refugees across the border living in a camp in Matamoros, Mexico. He planned on arriving with two other physicians, one of which is also from...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 17, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News, Podcast
Staff writer Luis Fieldman speaks about the first part of his three-part series on asylum seekers coming to Western Mass. This part focuses on the stories of Ramon and Santiago, whose names we changed to protect their identities as they escaped violence in their home...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 17, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, After 16 years of monogamy, my wife and I decided to try polyamory a few years ago. It’s going well and we’ve grown a lot. Our marriage is truly stronger than ever. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves, about relationships and, major bonus, the sex within our...
by Chris Rohmann | Mar 13, 2020 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Stage, Stagestruck
Yesterday morning I filed my column for next week’s Advocate, previewing upcoming screenings in Amherst Cinema’s National Theatre Live series. Yesterday afternoon I cancelled it when the cinema announced it’s closing until at least April 17th. There won’t be a...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 13, 2020 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured
More Than Just Birdcage Liner At the Advocate, we’ve had our fair share of readers disagreeing with our coverage claim the only thing this paper is good for is lining their birdcages. Well, an Australian newspaper took things a step further, and printed extra blank...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 13, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Henning Ohlenbusch is a Northampton-based singer-songwriter who performs acoustic indie rock and anti-folk with a sense of humor. Check out his Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Henning...
by Chris Goudreau | Mar 11, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, The CDs You Gave Me
Take one part grunge, another part shoegaze pop, and throw in some indie rock in the vein of Elliott Smith, and you have the building blocks of Taking Space the debut nine-song, full-length album by local songwriter Aaron Noble. What’s immediately striking about this...
by Luis Fieldman | Mar 11, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News
Editor’s note: Due to the dangers facing those seeking asylum and their families in their home countries, as well as the sensitive nature of their legal cases, the Advocate is using pseudonyms Ramon and Santiago for two asylum seekers featured in this story and...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Mar 11, 2020 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
This week, the Advocate begins a three-part series by Luis Fieldman about asylum seekers who have made it to western Massachusetts, and those who have helped to get them here. Political stability is something we in the United States take for granted. Even having the...
by Luis Fieldman | Mar 11, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News
Over the course of the Trump presidency, seeking asylum in the United States has become more difficult. Below are some policies implemented by the Trump administration that have placed additional obstacles before asylum seekers in recent years. Detaining asylum...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 10, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The Beerhunter
I was a kid from the Western Mass hills, and proud of it. But at my far-off college campus, where I’d flown in search of a higher education wearing Teva sandals and an Enter the Haggis hat, my college friends would raise their eyebrows when I’d say I came from...
by Jack Brown | Mar 10, 2020 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
“All it takes is one bad day,” a famous cartoon villain once said, “to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.” And while Kelly Reichardt’s 2008 film Wendy and Lucy is about as far as one can get from the world of the Dark Knight, it takes that “one bad day” idea and...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 9, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Podcast
Valley Advocate Associate Editor Chris Goudreau speaks with Editor Dave Eisenstadter about local preparations for the coronavirus in the Pioneer Valley, based on reporting he did speaking with hospitals, municipalities, and individuals. In the time since this podcast...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 9, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Writer’s note: I’ve added completely random and fake names into this column for reading clarity! Hi Yana, I ran into Sam who is a friend of mine that I have been distancing myself from because I think they’re mean and selfish. Sam invited me out and I said “Oh, I have...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 6, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
This week’s Advocate Sessions performer is blues/ rock singer and songwriter Peter J. Newland (of legendary Valley-based band FAT). Check out his performance in the video below. Interview with Peter J....
by Advocate Staff | Mar 5, 2020 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News
Gecko CPR A man from Australia might have saved a tiny gecko’s life after he fished the lizard out of his beer at a pub and then performed CPR on the animal when it seemingly stopped breathing. The man thought staff at the Amble Inn in Corindi Beach, New South Wales...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 5, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Staff Picks
Loundon Wainwright III at the Iron Horse // Saturday There are few songwriters who have raided their family history as much as Loudon Wainwright III — and even fewer who have done it as successfully. Like a guy on the proverbial psychiatrist’s couch, the veteran...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Mar 4, 2020 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
It’s Opposite Day in the Democratic primary. Super Tuesday was forecast to be a major victory for the progressive movement, culminating in a possibly insurmountable delegate lead for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with moderates hopelessly divided. Instead, former Vice...
by Chris Goudreau | Mar 4, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News
With countries across the world responding to the threat of coronavirus outbreaks, here in Massachusetts and, more locally, in the Pioneer Valley, local hospitals and municipalities are working to prepare and plan for a potential outbreak of the new respiratory viral...
by Jennifer Levesque | Mar 4, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Valley Show Girl
“Our focus is equal parts towards experimental art and hosting great DJ nights,” Ten Forward owner Sarah Lanzillotta told me through an email. “We aim to serve as a home for artists in Western MA to grow creatively, to try out ideas with one another, and as a resource...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Mar 3, 2020 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News
I’ve watched with growing concern the reports about the coronavirus morphing from an outbreak local to a region of China into what health experts are warning could become a full-blown pandemic. It’s important to state up front that the risk of contracting the virus in...
by Chris Rohmann | Mar 3, 2020 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
In baseball parlance, having “a cup of coffee” refers to a player who is called up from the minors for a brief stint with the major-league team – staying just long enough to have a figurative cuppa. Stan Freeman’s The Pitch is about a fictional ballplayer who barely...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 2, 2020 | Articles, Featured, The V-Spot
Dear Yana, I recently got out of a seven-year relationship and a five-year heterosexual marriage. Initially, we had a very regular and healthy sexual relationship but over time it disintegrated to an essentially sexless relationship. He had an affair and we divorced....
by Advocate Staff | Feb 28, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
This week’s Advocate Sessions performer is Americana/ folk singer-songwriter Brian Dickens who brings a contemporary feel to classic folk inspired songs. Check out his Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Brian...
by Luis Fieldman | Feb 27, 2020 | Articles, Featured, News
A local man concerned about new rules proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) affecting drone pilots is organizing a national protest in Washington, D.C., this weekend. Michael Duhl of Deerfield is the head organizer of “Help Save Our Hobby,” which will...
by Advocate Staff | Feb 27, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Staff Picks
Celseigh’s Album Release Party at the 413 // FRIDAY Doom ballad folk and outlaw country inspired artist (and Valley Advocate Sessions alumna) Celseigh will be releasing her debut album, “Ghosts’ Stories,” at the 413 in Easthampton this Friday. The show will also...
by Chris Rohmann | Feb 27, 2020 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Jane Eyre may be the most-adapted of 19th-century English novels, and that’s saying something, in a field shared with Austen and Dickens. The Wikipedia entry for Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 gothic masterpiece lists over 50 film, radio and TV versions, together with dozens...
by Advocate Staff | Feb 26, 2020 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music
Spring is in the air. Sort of. In some ways, after a snowy start, it has felt that winter didn’t come at all. But with clocks about to change to Daylight Savings (on Sunday, March 8!) it’s time to come out of our shells and check out a good show or museum. Here is an...
by Jack Brown | Feb 26, 2020 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured
In the run-up to the Oscars a few weeks ago, you might have seen a flurry of activity from local theaters as they featured the yearly roundup of animated short films that were vying for the golden statuette. It’s always a treat to see that collection of film on the...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Feb 25, 2020 | Articles, Clueless Parent, Columns, Featured
For the past three-plus years, I’ve been the parent of an amazing child. In a couple months time, I will be a parent of two. A friend who has two children recently told me that it would be impossible to describe to me the amount of work that will go into parenting...
by Chris Rohmann | Feb 25, 2020 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
In these fake-news days, when fiction rules the cybersphere and truth is called a lie (and vice versa), the lifespan of a fact can be the length of a tweet (if it’s not stillborn). The play now running at TheaterWorks in Hartford (through March 8) can’t help but be...
by Advocate Staff | Feb 24, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Podcast
Since China has stopped accepting much of the United States’ recycling, many communities have had to pay to have their recyclables hauled away. Western Mass has been spared that up to now, but beginning July 1 that will change. Writer Chris Goudreau speaks about...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Feb 24, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, My partner and I get into the habit of not having sex. We have a bunch of kids, full-time jobs, and all of that. It causes emotional tension to build and then we use that as an excuse to not sexually connect. We fall into a very platonic state. However, I’m...
by Chris Rohmann | Feb 23, 2020 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Two of the shows coming up on three Five College stages this week and next are family-friendly journeys into Neverland’s backstory. The other is a rock musical about a sensational axe murder. First up is Finding Neverland, the musical based on the 2004 film. It was...
by Advocate Staff | Feb 21, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
This week’s Advocate Sessions performer is Black Pyramid, a psychedelic war metal band with doom and stoner metal influences. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Black...
by Monte Belmonte | Feb 21, 2020 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Monte Belmonte Wines
In my last column, I mentioned how my main motivations for writing this column are to justify my habit and to get free wine, and how I’ve succeeded on both counts. I also wrote about some rather good wines that just miraculously showed up on my doorstep, as if...
by Advocate Staff | Feb 20, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Staff Picks
Fundraiser for The Wet’suwet’en Nation at Majestic Saloon // FRIDAY The Majestic Saloon and Lupinewood, a trans sanctuary in Greenfield, are holding a fundraiser for the Wet’suwet’en Nation, an indigenous group in the British Columbia region. The Wet’suwet’en Nation...
