Articles
by Gina Beavers | May 14, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
The Sea and Cake is an indie band formed in the way back — 1992. They’re straight out of Chicago and they’re in Northampton tonight at the Iron Horse. Their sound is light and airy, a friendly flurry of melodies and hooks that are very hard to dislike....
by Chris Goudreau | May 11, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley will be hosting a discussion between Deborah Levenson from Western Mass Medicare for All and State Rep. John Scibak (D-South Hadley) on May 22 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. about the prospects of creating a single payer health care system...
by Chris Goudreau | May 11, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Northampton City Councilors Alisa Klein and Maureen Carney released a joint statement on May 9 that’s critical of Mayor David Narkewicz’s Panhandling Work Group for the lack of representative from panhandlers in the group and a recent online study regarding...
by Rob Brezsny | May 11, 2018 | Articles, Astrology, Featured, Newsletter
ARIES (March 21-April 19): According to my assessment of the astrological omens, your duty right now is to be a brave observer and fair-minded intermediary and honest storyteller. Your people need you to help them do the right thing. They require your influence in...
by Gina Beavers | May 11, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Welcome to Sunday. In June 1943, Germany infamously declared Berlin “free of Jews.” There were, however, still 7,000 Jews living in the Nazi capital. These terrorized people were hiding in attics, basements, and warehouses, “protected by courageous Berliners.” Only...
by Gina Beavers | May 11, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Netflix jumped into the Academy Awards this year with Mudbound, a magnificent film set in the Mississippi Delta during the years surrounding World War II. It’s all about southern race relations and that’s the only thing that ain’t pretty in this masterpiece. Lush and...
by Gina Beavers | May 11, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music
The legendary Wailers band is at Hawks and Reed tonight. Yep, Bob Marley’s bandmates Aston “Familyman” Barrett, Julian Junior Marvin and Donald Kinsey are in Greenfield to carry on what Spin Magazine listed as #4 in the “50 Greatest Bands of All...
by Advocate Staff | May 11, 2018 | Articles, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
Amber Belle is a singer-songwriter with a honey toned voice who performs original folk and country music. (To watch Amber Belle’s performance click on the video below) Interview with Amber Belle:
by Naila Moreira | May 10, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth, Featured, Newsletter
I sit on the twisted root system of a great tree, a shelf of exposed roots thrust out over the Connecticut River at the edge of the Northampton Meadows. I’m perched 15 feet above the olive water. The muddy bluff has been licked and sucked away under the tree by years...
by Gina Beavers | May 10, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Newsletter
THURSDAY 5/10 MUSIC Bellwether: Milford Graves Full Mantis w/ Director Jake Meginsky: 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Amherst Cinema, 28 Amity St., Amherst. Live Music! Galvanizer: 8:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery, 36 Bridge St.,...
by Gina Beavers | May 10, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
If you want a little Tennessee Williams with a twist, check out Shoot The Moon Theater Company’s production of The Glass Menagerie, Williams’ signature 1944 stage play. Let’s go over the plot before we get to the good stuff. Domineering Amanda Wingfield, has two adult...
by Advocate Staff | May 9, 2018 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Valley Advocate Sessions
Amber Belle is a singer-songwriter with honey toned vocals who performs folk and country songs. Check out a teaser video of her upcoming Advocate Sessions video to be released this Friday.
by Sarah Heinonen | May 9, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
“Why vote for the lesser of two evils, when you can vote for the greater good?” Juan Sanchez wants voters to consider this question when they enter the ballot box on November 6. Sanchez, 29, of Holyoke, is running for Secretary of State in the 2018 statewide...
by Gina Beavers | May 9, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Get Out With Staff Picks, Music, Newsletter
Mudbound MASS MoCA // SATURDAY, MAY 12 Mudbound has been on my list of things to see since it first started making waves at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. While it is available to watch online, MASS MoCA is bringing in the director of the film Dee Rees for a...
by Chris Rohmann | May 9, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stagestruck
The Red Guitar, John Sheldon’s brilliant memoir-in-music, was a runaway hit at last summer’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Riding on its success in that international nexus of alternative arts, the show’s producer, the Valley’s Serious Play Theatre Ensemble, is taking it...
by Gina Beavers | May 9, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Brand X has been on the music circuit off and on since 1975, and they’re coming to the Iron Horse tonight. They’re “a multi-national jazz fusion band formed in London by the great Phil Collins and a couple of other blokes. They’ve recently...
by Gina Beavers | May 8, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Review
Given Paul Goodnight’s international stature, it’s difficult to understand the lack of fanfare and the dearth of coverage he receives when his work is exhibited at Rosemary Tracy Woods’ Art for The Soul Gallery in Springfield. Since 1984, Goodnight’s work has been...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 8, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Editors note: Many of the names of those quoted in the story were changed or assumed names were used because of the inherent danger and legal standing of some sex work. Wearing a green dress, pink tights, and a tiara, transgender woman and former sex worker Lorelei...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 8, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I have a sex question! Over the past year, I’ve noticed a pretty substantial shift in the way people think I like to fuck and I’m having difficulty confronting it. It’s probably a common experience that when people make a change to their outward appearance...
by From Our Readers | May 8, 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 8, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
It’s hard not to admire Jaoquin Phoenix’s work; he doesn’t just pop up any and everywhere and he actually acts. More importantly, he hasn’t morphed into a Marvel Comics hero … yet. So let’s celebrate him while he’s still free...
by Chris Goudreau | May 7, 2018 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz spoke with Massachusetts Senate President Harriette Chandler on May 6 requesting that the state extend the nomination papers deadline by two weeks for the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester District following the sudden resignation of...
by Advocate Staff | May 7, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter, Podcast
The federal anti sex trafficking law known as SESTA/FOSTA was passed nearly unanimously by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump earlier this spring, but local consensual sex workers says the law does little to stop sex trafficking while taking away...
by Advocate Staff | May 7, 2018 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, Featured, News, Newsletter
‘Mystery pooper’ exposed On a daily basis, a New Jersey man eluded police detection and managed to relieve himself (i.e. poop) on school grounds at a New Jersey high school. Police finally caught up with the “mystery pooper,” as they called him, after setting up a...
by Gina Beavers | May 7, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Bob Schneider is a bona fide artist. Not only is this guy an award winning singer/songwriter, he’s a terrific visual artist, as well. The Dallas Morning News says of his musical stylings: Bob Schneider is “a musical omnivore eager to devour any genre that...
by Gina Beavers | May 7, 2018 | Articles, Daily Calendar, Newsletter
MONDAY 5/7 MUSIC Bob Schneider: May 7, 7 p.m. Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton. We Made a Thing: A Tiny Audience Show: May 7, 9 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. Everyone is invited to this weekly super casual – and totally free! – “tiny audience”...
by Rob Brezsny | May 7, 2018 | Articles, Astrology, Featured, Newsletter
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Torah is a primary sacred text of the Jewish religion. It consists of exactly 304,805 letters. When specially trained scribes make handwritten copies for ritual purposes, they must not make a single error in their transcription. The work...
by Jack Brown | May 7, 2018 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
Celebrity is a funny thing. Usually, it charts along one or two familiar trajectories: the discovery of some young talent, followed by either the long work of career-building or the short decline of a crash-and-burn. But once in awhile, someone captures the public...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 4, 2018 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
We had been waiting a long time for it, but the speed of the events it set in motion once it finally arrived was breathtaking. The state Senate announced an independent ethics investigation of former Senate President Stan Rosenberg of Amherst in December. It took five...
by Gina Beavers | May 4, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Few will argue that there’s a real need for folks to bridge the racial gap that is yawning across the U.S. To do their part, the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church will be hosting an anti-racism film festival. At 1:30 Whose Streets? directed by Sabaah...
by Gina Beavers | May 4, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Want a little drama on your Saturday? The Great Gatsby remains one of America’s greatest works of fiction, and it’s going to be staged by the National Players at the Wisteriahurst Museum in Holyoke today at 1:30. The Jazz Age never looked so beautiful and glamorous...
by Chris Goudreau | May 4, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Music, News, Newsletter
Randy Rainbow achieved Internet stardom with his series of political spoofs and song parodies satirizing mainstream media and conservative leaders such as Donald Trump through green screened mock interviews and now he’s set to bring his unique brand of song comedy to...
by Gina Beavers | May 4, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Stage
The weekend has begun and you can take your pick of great events happening this weekend. My recommendation? The Tattooed Man Tells All. This solo stage piece was written by Peter Wortsman. Wortsman interviewed Holocaust survivors in the 1970s and distilled them into...
by Advocate Staff | May 4, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Music, Valley Advocate Sessions
The Gaslight Tinkers perform traditional Celtic fiddle music mixed with Afrobeat, funk, reggae, and Latin grooves. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with The Gaslight Tinkers:
by Meg Bantle | May 3, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Following public backlash online, the owner of Off the Map tattoo Gabe Ripley says that he regrets not having a no tolerance policy for sexual harassment and assault in the shop four years ago, but that there is now a no tolerance policy in place. There was harsh...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 3, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Former Senate President Stanley Rosenberg will soon become former Senator Stanley Rosenberg. Following an ethics committee report made public Wednesday, Rosenberg announced Thursday he would be stepping down in his role as a state Senator effective the end of day...
by Meg Bantle | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Editor’s note: Off the Map Tattoo was recently recognized in the Best of the Valley Readers Poll, which is awarded by readers. The Valley Advocate is not affiliated with the tattoo parlor. Off the Map Tattoo is facing public criticism online over its continued...
by Hunter Styles | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
As a New Englander accustomed to long, cold winters, I had never put the Arctic Circle atop my summer vacation list. But in case you missed the billboards along Interstate 91, Norwegian Air now offers discount flights to Europe from Boston, Providence, and New York...
by Gina Beavers | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Newsletter
THURSDAY 5/3 MUSIC Honeysuckle: 7 p.m. $12 – $15. The Parlor Room, 32 Masonic St., Northampton. Live Music!: The Moores: 8:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery, 36 Bridge St., Brattleboro. Professor Louie And The Crowmatix: 7 p.m....
by Gina Beavers | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
My buddy Meg Bantle chose The Head and the Load as one of her Staff Picks. So I will defer to her for my Pick of the Day: “Check out William Kentridge as he and his 50 person theater troop end their two week residency at MASS MoCA with this work-in-progress...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
The Senate Committee on Ethics has recommended former Senate President Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst) be barred from Senate leadership or leadership of any committee for the duration of this legislative session or the next. State Sen. Michael Rodrigues, who is chair of...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
State Police Troop E, which patrols the length of the Mass Pike, has been eliminated and absorbed into three other regional troops as a result of reforms initiated by Gov. Charles Baker. The change was in part a response to allegations that more than 20 troopers in...
by Dave Eisenstadter | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Spurred on by a new federal law they say makes their already dangerous jobs less safe, sex workers are marching in this weekend’s Noho Pride Parade in Northampton to declare “sex work is real work.” Bella Vendetta, a dominatrix and award-winning porn...
by Chris Goudreau | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz pledged to stand by undocumented immigrants in his city during a May 1 press conference on the steps of Northampton City Hall and promised to support initiatives such as allowing undocumented immigrants to vote in local elections. “I...
by Gina Beavers | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
It’s so beautiful today and you’ve probably completely lost your mind; it’s hard to think about being indoors when there’s no guarantee that winter has really gone into hiberation. But we’ve got a suggestion for you after you settle down...
by Advocate Staff | May 2, 2018 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Valley Advocate Sessions
The Gaslight Tinkers perform traditional Celtic fiddle music mixed with Afrobeat, funk, reggae, and Latin grooves. Check out a teaser video of the band’s Advocate Sessions performance, which will be online this Friday.
by Chris Goudreau | May 1, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Music, Newsletter
American Celtic fiddler Jamie Laval is world renowned for his unique approach to traditional Scottish music by adding virtuosity and a contemporary ear to ancient reels or jigs. Laval will be performing in Western Massachusetts on Sunday, May 13 at the Parlor Room in...
by Meg Bantle | May 1, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News, Newsletter
Only five years ago, ArtWeek was a series of 25 events in Boston. This year, ArtWeek, which started on April 27 and runs until May 6, expanded to Central and Western Massachusetts and includes over 525 events, making it the only statewide art festival in...
by Yanna Tallon-Hicks | May 1, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hello Yana! I’m looking for advice on navigating college relationships. I’m a young lesbian and I’m trying to consolidate not feeling in a good emotional place for a full romantic relationship with also looking for physical intimacy. I had a short relationship earlier...
by Monte Belmonte | May 1, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
White Zinfandel ruined rosé. My Italian grandmother, Nana B, always had a bottle of Sutter Home White Zinfandel open in her fridge. She called it “Zin-fan-DEL,” with the accent on the last syllable. I was allowed small sips as a child, and my mental memory of those...
by Gina Beavers | May 1, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter, Stage
Tennessee Williams knew how to create drama. And his Pulitzer Prize winning 1955 masterpiece Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the perfect example. Brick, Maggie, Big Daddy and the gang are gathered for Big Daddy’s birthday. Simply put, these people are the worst. Greedy,...
by Sarah Heinonen | Apr 30, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Following reporting that vandals defaced a piece of artwork meant to honor the victims of a recent school shooting late last week and that no police report had been filed, police have received a complaint and are investigating. Police originally said no investigation...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 30, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Newsletter, Podcast, Wellness
Seth Frappier started Easthampton-based Chronic Trips as a way to bring cannabis together with wellness and an active lifestyle. So far, the business has hosted hikes as well as a yoga session. Frappier talks about his hopes for opening a studio in Easthampton and the...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 30, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Students from Springfield and Boston gathered alongside local faith leaders and grassroots organizers held a second protest on April 27 against Springfield-based gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson after activists called on the company meet with them to create a...
by Gina Beavers | Apr 30, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Daily Calendar, Newsletter
MONDAY 4/30 MUSIC UMass Symphony Band & Percussion Ensemble: 7:30 p.m. Joint concert. $5 – $10. Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, UMass, Amherst. 413-545-2511. music@music.umass.edu. STAGE/FILM/DANCE Conversations With Nick Cave at Academy of Music Theatre: 8...
by Rob Brezsny | Apr 30, 2018 | Articles, Astrology, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I hate rampant consumerism almost as much as I hate hatred, so I don’t offer the following advice lightly: Buy an experience that could help liberate you from the suffering you’ve had trouble outgrowing. Or buy a toy that can...
by Gina Beavers | Apr 30, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Film, Newsletter
Patagonia Treasure Trail is about a mother/daughter’s road trip on horseback into “the environmentally delicate and politically volatile territory of southern Arizona. A large commercial mining company has claimed the Patagonia Mountains, and the...
by Jack Brown | Apr 30, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
So few of us follow our deepest drives — it’s a path that leads along high wires and narrow ledges, and for many, the fear of failing big keeps us dreaming small. On the other end of human experience is a man like Milford Graves. Graves is a renowned percussionist who...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 27, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
What does cannabis taste like? Many people might describe it as earthy, pungent, or bitter. According to Joe Nelson, 29, of Plymouth, one of the chefs and co-founders of Mass Cannabis Chefs, the idea that all cannabis tastes the same is a misconception. “It’s...
by Gina Beavers | Apr 27, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Chris Goudreau is a music aficionado; he thinks this show at Hawks and Reed is a must see. He says, “It’s a night of awe inspiring, shredding, progressive bands this Saturday at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield, including Amherst-based math...
