Articles
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 11, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Over the course of his more than 40 year career folk and blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Chris Smither has released dozens of albums and hundreds of songs. He was a part of the Cambridge folk music scene in the 1960s where he first got his start and is also a...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 11, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I was recently informed by someone that my boyfriend has been sexually texting another girl for several months, as well as had an active profile on dating site Plenty of Fish. When confronted, it took a few days but he did admit the truth to me. I am...
by Rob Brezsny | Jun 11, 2018 | Articles, Astrology, Featured, Newsletter
ARIES (March 21-April 19): My Aries acquaintance Tatiana decided to eliminate sugar from her diet. She drew up a plan to avoid it completely for 30 days, hoping to permanently break its hold over her. I was surprised to learn that she began the project by making a...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 8, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
In a statement released on Facebook on Friday morning, Northampton Police Chief Jody Kasper wrote that the suspect arrested at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Northampton after allegedly bringing two pellet guns onto the campus said he was there to pick up a friend...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 8, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Tundrastomper is a DIY basement/ math rock band that excels at angular distorted experimental rock. Check out the band’s full Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Tundrastomper:
by Gina Beavers | Jun 8, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
This is an easy one. Melissa Etheridge, the legend, is at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center tonight in Great Barrington. It’s worth the ride; Etheridge’s catalog of heartland rock and roll spans thirty years. Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 8, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
New Salem, yes, New Salem. It’s the town that borders Shutesbury, Wendell, Belchertown, Athol, Orange, Pelham, Ware — oh and Petersham. Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez: are out at the Meetinghouse tonight in New Salem to kick off the 2018 season! ...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 7, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
In a show of bipartisan support for clarity around marijuana laws, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado held a joint press conference about a bill they are sponsoring to allow states to make their own decisions...
by Chris Goudreau | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
A group of more than 30 activists affiliated with the Pioneer Valley Workers Center and Mass Jobs with Justice protested outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office at 1550 Main St. in Springfield on June 6 in response to children being separated...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
How can two people be wrong? Both Dave Eisenstadter and Chris Goudreau chose Northampton Arts Night Out as their Staff Picks this week. Dave recommends CLICK Workspace which will host some ukulele bands that will perform in conjunction with two photography exhibits....
by Gina Beavers | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Cycling is a religion for a lot of folks I’ve known over the years. If it yours (and even if it’s not) check out the Ciclismo Classico Bike Travel Film Festival (See Jack Brown’s Cinemadope) tonight at the Academy of Music. The first film is called...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Music, Newsletter, Stage
THURSDAY 6/7 MUSIC Albert Castiglia: 7 p.m. Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton. Drop-in Traditional Music Sessions: 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Friendly traditional music sessions. Moderate swingy pace. Adults and teens of all skill levels welcome – and...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Review
“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul — and sings the tunes without the words — and never stops at all,” wrote Emily Dickinson, the grande dame of poetry. And down a bit from the hustle and bustle, Hope and Feathers Custom Framing and Art Gallery...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Uncategorized, Valley Advocate Sessions
This week’s Valley Advocate Sessions band is experimental math/basement rock group Tundrastomper. Check out a teaser video of the band’s upcoming Advocate Sessions video to be released this Friday.
by Meg Bantle | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
If you think that tiny house movement is just a passing fad for young people, think again. Lisa Kuneman, 53, of Brattleboro, said that tiny houses are definitely more than just a trend, and that many tiny house enthusiasts are retirement-aged. “Other options aren’t...
by Isabel Darmon-Weiss | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Over 15 boxes of Pez candy and accessories were shipped to the Children’s Museum at Holyoke just weeks ago. Susan Kelley, executive director of the museum, mounted a third of them onto the wall in the middle of the bustling chaos. She said she is glad the museum can...
by Isabel Darmon-Weiss | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Northampton High School are organizing an event to put questions to students local candidates running for 1st Hampshire County state Representative and Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester state Senator. It will take place at the school’s auditorium at 380 Elm St. in...
by From our Readers | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find reader comments on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Want to get in on this? Email...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 6, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Veteran punk rocker Dave Hause will hit the Parlor Room tonight. He’s just released his third solo album Bury Me in Philly which he co-wrote with his 23-year-old brother Tim. Hause describes his album like what you might expect on stage tonight: “You want...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Jun 5, 2018 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
The five write-in candidates in the race to replace longtime state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, of Amherst, are coming under scrutiny for their late entry into the race, with some calling their challenge to progressive Chelsea Kline — the only candidate to have her name on...
by Gina Beavers. Chris Goudreau. | Jun 5, 2018 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News, Newsletter
Taking a break from posting about the volcanic doom on Hawaii, The U.S. Geological Survey’s Twitter account fielded this question: “Is it safe to roast marshmallows over volcanic vents? Assuming you had a long enough stick, that is? Or would the resulting marshmallows...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 5, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Paul Arslanian, George Kaye, and Jon Fisher make up The Green Street Trio; for almost ten years, they’ve performed with a guest artist each Tuesday at City Sports Grille as the Northampton Jazz Workshop. This week they’re bringing in vocalist Wanda...
by Isabel Darmon-Weiss | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Historic Court Square was filled with almost 200 people on Monday, June 4, in downtown Springfield, where one of many rallies for the Poor People’s Campaign was launched. The campaign is doing a six-week launch which they’ve titled “A National Call for Moral Revival,”...
by Isabel Darmon-Weiss | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Lucio Perez, an undocumented immigrant and a native of Guatemala who has been taking sanctuary in the First Church of Amherst since October, wants to personally show his gratitude towards the community through a potluck dinner on June 18 at 6 p.m. The dinner, which...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Review, Stage, Stagestruck
Two plays now running in Hartford are framed by resistance movements against political and economic oppression, and both carry weighty metaphors. At TheaterWorks through June 23, a lesson in global economics is tucked into a torn-from-the-headlines thriller, and at...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Food + Booze, Newsletter, Podcast
What is the taste of local music? Tony “Tonez” Hall is finding out through making granola. Hall is co-owner of Holyoke-based Massachusetts Artisan Foods, wanted to make foods out of local products. One such product, Local Maple Granola, is made from maple...
by Jack Brown | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
Unless you’re a diehard cyclist, we are just now into the high season for bikes. (You’ll know you’re a diehard if you own snow tires for your ride.) For many, it’s one of the rare enjoyments that span a lifetime; our first great sense of freedom is often found when a...
by Rob Brezsny | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Astrology, Featured, Newsletter
ARIES (March 21-April 19): According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you would be wise to ruffle and revise your relationship with time. It would be healthy for you to gain more freedom from its relentless demands; to declare at least some independence from...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Music, Newsletter
MONDAY 6/4 MUSIC An Evening with Gaelic Storm: 7 p.m. Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton. STAGE/FILM/DANCE We Made a Thing: A Tiny Audience Show: 9 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. Everyone is invited to this weekly super casual – and totally free!...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 4, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
Celtic band Gaelic Storm is at the Iron Horse tonight. They perform traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres. Go Climb A Tree, their most recent album, was released last year. 7 p.m. at the Iron Horse...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jun 1, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I was dating a guy for about year when he told me he didn’t want to have sex with me anymore, but wouldn’t give me a concrete answer as to why. A few months later I found out he had read my journal (ugh) where I was comparing sex with him to sex with my...
by Chris Rohmann | Jun 1, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
I’m always excited as the summer-theater season approaches, even though it means I’ll be spending even more of my entertainment hours indoors than during the dark winter. In a brief three months, we theatergoers are treated to a greater variety of fare — not to...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 1, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Want a little creepy end to your weekend? Check out Beast, a new film at Amherst Cinema. Here’s the gist: Moll is 27 and still living at home and is finding it hard to break away from her stifling family. She meets Pascal, “a free-spirited...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 1, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
Honky Tonk goodness with the Sweetback Sisters hits the Berkshires tonight. Their unique brand of classic country and rockabilly rave-ups is a hootin’ good time. This is real deal musicianship at its best. Catch the show at 7:30 p.m. Hancock Shaker Village,...
by Gina Beavers | Jun 1, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Music, Newsletter, Stage
FRIDAY 6/1 MUSIC Bob Stabach 4tet: 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. The Lounge, 4 High St., Brattleboro. Live Music on The Deck Friday & Saturday: 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. The Deck at Union Station has live music all summer long! Friday and Saturday from 6-9pm. Check...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 1, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Flathead Rodeo is a roots and rockabilly band with plenty of country twang. Check out the band’s Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Flathead Rodeo:
by Chris Goudreau | May 31, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
A new start-up cannabis business called Treeworks is taking a grassroots approach to the burgeoning legalized marijuana industry in Massachusetts by working out of a home kitchen to develop a line of locally sourced products, including cannabis oils, edibles such as...
by Gina Beavers | May 31, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
When I was a kid, I thought Close Encounters of the Third Kind was one of the dumbest movies I’d ever seen; but now the nostalgic feels are off the chart. It’s definitely one of those movies you should see. It was 1977 and interstellar adventure was all...
by Gina Beavers | May 31, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Say goodbye to May 2018 — it’s been real. But you have one last night together so go spend it with a line of up of music at Luthier’s Co-Op in Easthampton. The music starts at 7 p.m., and three acts are scheduled to perform. Pamela and Anand at 7 p.m.,...
by Chris Rohmann | May 30, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
Barrington Stage Company’s summer season launched on Sunday in the troupe’s St. Germain Stage, with a play by its eponym, Mark St. Germain. In her curtain speech, artistic director Julianne Boyd proudly announced that Typhoid Mary is the ninth play of his that...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 30, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
A growing national activist movement called the Poor People’s Campaign will host its first rally in Springfield on Monday, June 4, around environmental issues. Michaelann Bewsee, executive director of Arise for Social Justice in Springfield and one of the chairs of...
by Hunter Styles | May 30, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Raise a glass across the Valley (and throughout the Berkshires, too!) as the third annual Western Mass Beer Week rolls in this month. The eight-day celebration of local craft beer — which runs June 9 to 16 — is jam-packed with limited releases, special collaborations,...
by Gina Beavers | May 30, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter, Review
Earlier this month Lennie and Elizabeth Applequist opened #LOCAL: A Gallery with a Twist on Cottage Street in Easthampton, happily joining the eclectic array of shops, galleries, restaurants, and watering holes that make Easthampton center special. In 2013 the...
by Chris Goudreau | May 30, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Music, Newsletter
When you think of a psychedelic rock band, you don’t tend to think about uncluttering the gutter spouts or other mundane tasks , but Greenfield-based alternative psych-folk band, The frost heaves and hales, does just that — marrying everyday tasks with a dash of magic...
by Gina Beavers | May 30, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Clean and sleek, L.A. indie group Sir Sly comes to Northampton Wednesday, May 30. Front man Landon Jacobs’ cool, light voice combined with instrumentalists Jason Suwito and Hayden Coplen make this synth-rock trio a must see. Their 2017 Don’t You Worry, Honey...
by Gary Carra | May 29, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Nightcrawler
There’s a saying creative types have coined to describe a seemingly inexplicable confluence of circumstances that yield almost mystical results. They call it “lightning in a bottle.” In a cruel twist of fate, any given musician or band has about the same odds of...
by Jennifer Levesque | May 29, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
Churches are the most beautiful architectural buildings, in my opinion. I’m not a religious person, so when I do get a chance to enter these beauties, it’s because of a wedding or a funeral and I just look forward to leaving — the religion part of it just makes me...
by Monte Belmonte | May 29, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
How would you like to buy a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild for $1.75? Maybe a bottle of Château Haut-Brion for $1.95? Interested in two bottles of Château Mouton-Rothschild for a whopping $2.95 each? Or go ahead and splurge on a case of Château Margaux for $25....
by Chris Goudreau | May 29, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Springfield-based nonprofit, Gardening the Community, which practices urban gardening in the Mason Square neighborhood and hosts programs teaching youth about urban agriculture, will host a grand opening for its first ever farm stand at 200 Walnut Street this...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 29, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Have you dreamed of travelling through space? UMass Amherst Post Doctoral Research Associate William Daniels is doing the next best thing this month and next — spending 45 days cooped up in a tiny space with three other people. Daniels, 33, of Hadley entered what he...
by Gina Beavers | May 29, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
The Northamptones are an audition-based advanced a cappella group at Northampton High School. They’ve performed all over New England, including at the Academy of Music, John M. Greene Hall, the Calvin Theatre, the Iron Horse, Fenway Park, and the Massachusetts...
by Advocate Staff | May 27, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Newsletter, Podcast
Aaron Brando, a.k.a. DJ Hip Socket, has been practicing and running Pollinate Ecstatic Dance for 10 years. Ecstatic dance is a free form dance, and Pollinate works hard to establish a safe environment for expression and dance. Brando talks about the variety of people...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 27, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana! I have a general question about a couple or a person beginning to add anal play into their repertoire. Do you have any advice on how one keeps toys and/or fingers clean/separate so the toys for buttplay are kept far away from the vagina or vice versa? ...
by Jack Brown | May 27, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Uncategorized
Movies about painters are tough in the way that movies about musicians are tough: it’s nigh impossible to find an actor or actress for the part that is not only adept in their own chosen field, but also good enough to fake the very real particular talents of those...
by Gina Beavers | May 27, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Music, Newsletter
MONDAY 5/28 MUSIC Strange Creek Campout: Camp Kee-Wanee, 1 Health Camp Rd., Greenfield. Baby and Me: 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Free. Wheeler Memorial Library, 49 East Main St., Orange. 978-544-2495. Paradise City Arts Festival: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Live music, 260...
by Gina Beavers | May 27, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
It’s year 24 for the Paradise City Arts Festival, and 250 artists from 20 states are prepared to thrill you with their original works of art and one of kind crafts. Because the Festival is directed by artists, you can be sure the very best in ceramics, painting, art...
by Chris Goudreau | May 25, 2018 | Articles, News, Newsletter
A nonprofit art space called Looky Here at 28 Chapman St. in Greenfield will feature everything from tarot card readings to instrument building classes as well as a thrift shop for art supplies. Looky Here is slated to have its grand opening on June 24 at 9 a.m....
by Rob Brezsny | May 25, 2018 | Articles, Astrology, Featured, Newsletter
ARIES (March 21-April 19): A critic described Leonardo da Vinci’s painting the Mona Lisa as “the most visited, most written about, most sung about, most parodied work of art in the world.” It hasn’t been sold recently, but is estimated to be...
by From Our Readers | May 25, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find reader comments on Advocate articles and other news. We collect readers’ opinions from emails, letters, Facebook comments, and comments to valleyadvocate.com. Want to get in on this? Email...
by Gina Beavers | May 25, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Music, Newsletter
Zut Alors! If you’re in the mood for a little french with English subtitles, Let the Sunshine In is the film for you! Juliette Binoche plays a divorced Parisian painter searching for love, but she refuses to just settle for any ol’ body. Amherst Cinema...
