Articles
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble, rooted in the Valley for over two decades, is spreading its limbs. Long the area’s prime site for physical-theater training and performance that explores the reaches of expression through voice and movement, the company has lately...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
Two churches in San Jose, California, have a whole new take on the Bible’s burning bush. In Coachella Valley Church, cannabis is treated as a sacrament. For a $10 donation you get an identification card and become a lifetime member, with access to a store in the back...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles
Cotton Mill Open Studio & Holiday Sale // FRIDAY – SUNDAY Put simply, open studios are awesome. The chance to peek in at an artist’s work space and see how they set things up and where the do their creative work really gets the creative juices flowing for...
by Meg Bantle | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
To start, an introduction. My name’s Meg, I’m a writer, a farmer, a gardener, a joker, a midnight … I’m the new cannabis columnist. Massachusetts is in the middle of its cannabis revolution and I don’t want you to miss a thing. With a new author comes a new...
by Jennifer Levesque | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Review, Valley Show Girl
A couple weeks ago I wrote my column based on the fiasco that is Wikipedia Vs. Women, where locally and nationally non-male musicians are getting edited out of the popular DIY online encyclopedia due to male editors not accepting articles from certain publications...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana! I am a 21-year-old cisgender female living with my partner of 1.5 years. I’ll make it simple: a partner has never been able to make me orgasm. Either I do it solo or I do all the work for myself during sex with a partner. My partner and I communicate about...
by Jack Brown | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
We all die. That great inescapable fact is the one sure thing we all share, but how the knowledge of it affects each of us is a profoundly personal thing. Some people rarely think of it until it is upon them, while others dwell in thoughts of dying. Some are paralyzed...
by Rob Brezsny | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Uncategorized, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I hope that everything doesn’t come too easily for you in the coming weeks. I’m worried you will meet with no obstructions and face no challenges. And that wouldn’t be good. It might weaken your willpower and cause your puzzle-solving skills...
by Meg Bantle | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles
As a self-identified foodie, the holiday season is one of my favorite times of year. I get to eat food, make food, and give food away basically non-stop through the New Year. Whether it’s something that I canned over the summer or a product made by a local company,...
by Meg Bantle | Nov 27, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Many residents of Greenfield will have an additional bucket on their curb next year. The Compost Cooperative is a newly formed worker-owned business that is going to start picking up commercial and residential compost in in Greenfield in 2018. The idea for the Compost...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 24, 2017 | Articles
Kelsey Birk, who goes by her stage name Celseigh, is a local singer-songwriter who writes doom drenched murder ballads with acoustic bluegrass inspired guitar. Interview with Celseigh
by Advocate Staff | Nov 22, 2017 | Articles
Kelsey Birk, who goes by her stage name Celseigh, is a local singer-songwriter who writes doom drenched murder ballads with acoustic bluegrass inspired guitar. Check out a teaser video of Celesigh’s full Valley Advocate Sessions performance set to be released...
by Meg Bantle | Nov 21, 2017 | Articles, News
Even though the holiday lights were strung up before the kids even trick-or-treated for their Halloween candy this year, the official start to the holiday season is this weekend by most people’s assessment. The Pioneer Valley will be abuzz with activity over the...
by Chris Goudreau and Meg Bantle | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News, Newsletter
The Pioneer Valley is home not only to a bountiful music scene, but to dozens of open mics where artistic communities blossom. Open mics are places where the generational lines between artists blur while they’re jamming out to a bluesy ballad or talking about their...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
Gun control. It’s a topic that rarely gets any traction at the federal level, even after the most devastating and horrific mass shootings. After the Sandy Hook shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 20 children: nothing. After Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, the...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Staff Picks
Snow Farm Seconds Sale // FRIDAY-SUNDAY My number one goal for the holiday season is to get as much of my shopping done before December as possible. Shopping in December is the worst, and I am trying to avoid giving Amazon my money so I’m heading to the last...
by Meg Bantle | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Two painted planks of wood covered one of the main display windows in front of Shop Therapy in Northampton on Monday morning. The smashed pane, which looked like someone’s elbow or head was pushed through it from the outside, was covered with a message in red...
by Chris Goudreau | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Featured, Food + Booze, Newsletter
A flaky crust, delicious filling, and a bite of nostalgia make pie the dessert of choice for many. Whether it’s pie with a damn fine cup of coffee or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, you’ll instantly be transported to sweet comfort heaven with just a bite … if it’s...
by Letters from our readers | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
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 Lena Wilson | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stream Queen
Dearest streamers, as the year draws to a close and we start to gather with our families (chosen or otherwise), it’s customary to take stock of how our lives have changed in the past 365 days. To say that the entertainment industry and all its iterations have changed...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News, Newsletter
Many people know that the opioid crisis has been linked to over-the-counter pain medication being over prescribed by doctors. The problem is that there is not a practical solution for people with chronic pain. Brain scientists have been studying this question and are...
by Will Meyer | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Music
Last week my colleague Jennifer Levesque reported on musician and rock documentarian Tanya Pearson’s efforts to challenge Wikipedia edits. While trying to revise entries on the free encyclopedia, Pearson discovered that many edits and entries weren’t getting...
by Blaise Majkowski | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Blaise's Bad Movie Guide, Columns, Review
As I type this column, it is not yet Halloween, but by the time it sees print the holiday will be over. I’m still in a scary-movie mode, watching such fare as “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” But maybe I should switch gears and see what’s available now on TV....
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Stagestruck
Crimes of the Heart is an American classic. Beth Henley’s 1980 play garnered a Tony, a Pulitzer and a movie deal, ran on Broadway for over a year and has been a community theater staple ever since. Before catching Cate Damon’s lively production at the Majestic Theater...
by Jack Brown | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope
Pixar has had a remarkable run. Beginning in 1985, with Toy Story, the animation studio has produced a body of work that has set — and maintained — a high bar for mainstream animation. While the Toy Story franchise proved to be the gift that kept on giving (a fourth...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I’m a 20-year-old student at one of the local women’s colleges. I’m gay and have been out for five years, though I’ve never dated anyone. I figured that it wouldn’t be too tricky to find someone here, since there’s a pretty large population of people who...
by Rob Brezsny | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In alignment with the current astrological omens, I have prepared your horoscope using five hand-plucked aphorisms by Aries poet Charles Bernstein. 1.) “You never know what invention will look like or else it wouldn’t be invention.” 2.) “So...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 17, 2017 | Articles, Music
Ritmo Gitano is a local duo that plays traditional gitano and Romani music on fiddle (Zoe Darrow) and Spanish guitar (Tony Silva). Check out the group’s complete Valley Advocate Sessions performance in video below. Interview with Ritmo Gitano:
by Dave Eisenstadter, Meg Bantle, and Chris Goudreau | Nov 15, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News
In front of Northampton Market, employee Rilshad Azez shoos away potential customers as they pull into the lot. “No power,” he says. The mailman he welcomes, but he asks a question: “You didn’t bring the power?” “Sorry, not...
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 14, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
Though it harks back more than 100 years, Jack Fry’s Einstein! shuns the usual retrospective approach to solo shows portraying celebrities. This one is both timeless and time-stamped. The title character appears to us “from the beyond,” complaining about the popular...
by Dave Eisenstadter, Chris Goudreau, and Meg Bantle | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Progressives had reasons to celebrate the morning of Nov. 8 more than at any point in the past year. Not only did the Democrats capture the big prizes of Election Day on Nov. 7 — the governors races in New Jersey and Virginia — but Democratic and progressive...
by Jennifer Levesque | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
Tanya Pearson has been accumulating a continuous list of female musicians for her Women in Rock Oral History Project which she started at Smith College in December 2014. Accompanied by 29 video interviews (so far!) with some of them available on www.womenofrock.org,...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
Last week featured two news stories that rocked the political landscape in this country. The first was that Democrats and progressive candidates all but swept the Nov. 7 elections from coast to coast, and the second was that Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News, Newsletter
The woman arrested for laughing at the hilarious statement that Jeff Sessions has a “clear and well-documented” record of “treating all Americans equally under the law” at Sessions confirmation hearing (Sessions in fact was rejected as a federal judge in the 1980s...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Staff Picks
Home Brewed Jazz // SATURDAY Hadley singer-songwriter Jacki Odess-Gillett already has a jazz album under her belt. In 2015, she recorded 10 original jazz tunes with local jazz masters, including Charles Neville, Miro Sprague, Dave Wertman (now deceased), and Billy...
by Chris Goudreau | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Review
Northampton-based singer-songwriter Jake Klar has undergone a metamorphosis from an acoustic driven folk artist to an alternative rock-poet who fuses psychedelic instrumentation with his knack for lyrical storytelling on his newest record, Until the Wild Fire Become...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hey Yana, I just read a list of codependent behaviors on the internet and realized a ton of them describe the ways I have navigated/still navigate my relationships. Particularly: getting upset/stressed about other people’s problems and trauma, abandoning my...
by Lena Wilson | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Stream Queen
We all have a bit of morbid curiosity in us. Some more than others — according to a 2010 study published in Social Psychology and Personality Science, women are more drawn to true crime literature than men. Maybe that’s because we like to know as much as possible...
by Letters from Readers | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
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 Monte Belmonte | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
Thanksgiving: when (non-Native) Americans celebrate their favorite (made up) moments from (revisionist) history. A time when you will sit down to enjoy a feast (with historically incorrect menu), lovingly seated around the table next to your (mouth-breathing)...
by Dusty Christensen | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
When her four children go to sleep at night, Dora Gonzalez says her youngest, 8-year-old Lucy, often wakes up around 1 a.m. and says, “I miss my dad.” Her oldest son is graduating high school this spring, and Gonzalez worries his father, Lucio Perez, won’t be able to...
by Rob Brezsny | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Many people go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after,” observed Henry David Thoreau. The spirit of Thoreau’s observation is true about every one of us to some extent. From time to time, we all try to...
by Jack Brown | Nov 13, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
As the days grow shorter here in the Valley, we begin to hear whispers of that famous annual December celebration. Children look forward to it for months, and adults go shopping early to make sure they get everything they need before the best stock is sold. I’m...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 10, 2017 | Articles
Hannah Rose is an electric rock singer-songwriter with plenty of soul. She plays with her band Sodada, but also performs solo material that’s geared towards indie rock. Interview with Hannah Rose:
by Advocate Staff | Nov 9, 2017 | Articles
Hannah Rose is an electric rock singer-songwriter with plenty of soul. Her band Sodada previously performed on Valley Advocate Sessions. Check out a preview of some of her soon to be released Sessions performance featuring her original solo material.
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 8, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
Note: An earlier version of this article contained several errors. They have now been corrected. In 1999, Time magazine named its pick for “the song of the century.” That song was “Strange Fruit,” perhaps an odd choice from the songbook of the era that gave birth to...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 8, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, News, The Beerhunter
Family-run business is the city’s first visitable craft brewery As the Valley’s local craft beer bubble continues to grow, Westfield looks primed for business. Downtown on Elm Street, Skyline Trading Company — a craft beer bar and homebrew shop — has proven a welcome...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Staff Picks
Brattleboro Film Fest // THROUGH SUNDAY I haven’t been to a film festival in awhile, but it only took one look at the lineup for this week’s sixth annual Brattleboro Film Festival to seal the deal. The festival takes place at the historic Latchis Theatre in downtown...
by Naila Moreira | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth
What do a public library and the great outdoors have in common? Because I write about nature and the environment, I’ve always made use of library books on nature. But it took me a long time to fully realize how closely and intimately libraries and the environment are...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 6, 2017 | 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 Chris Goudreau | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles
Many say that art is therapeutic; that it helps the artist reflect on their thoughts, actions and the world in which they live. But how does art impact someone who is incarcerated? “Inside Art IV,” now on display at Art Space in Greenfield displays photography and...
by Will Meyer | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Review
When I heard there was a local band called Landowner, I thought: “Surely, they’re joking. This is satirical, right?” But punk is weird these days — everyone is on Facebook hoping companies will sponsor them — so I wasn’t completely sure. I started asking friends,...
by Chris Goudreau and Meg Bantle | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
The fear of robots and artificial intelligence taking away your job and your livelihood just got real, folks. A new AI bot created by Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology writes it’s own horror stories. The bot, “Shelley’, named after...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, My partner has struggled with a pornography/masturbation addiction since he was a teen. I’m not against self pleasure. In fact, I believe it’s important and wonderful for everyone to experience, even when partnered. We’ve been together for 4 years, and our...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
If you weren’t expecting this craft beer column to start with a plate of silkworm larvae, believe me, I’m as surprised as you are. But there they were, next to my glass: half a dozen off-white baby bugs, each about an inch long and doused with a honey balsamic sauce....
by Jack Brown | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope
It’s a fool’s game to think that the past can’t be topped, but let’s play it for a moment: can there ever be another phenomenon like the Beatles? Whether you count yourself a fan or not, the band — their impact was never only about their music — set off a sea change...
by Rob Brezsny | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Adriana Martinez and Octavio Guillen got engaged to be married when they were both 15 years old. But they kept delaying a more complete unification for 67 years. At last, when they were 82, they celebrated their wedding and pledged their...
by Chris Rohmann | Nov 5, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
The current world-premiere production at Hartford Stage (through Nov. 12) is “based on a true story,” according to the publicity, which is otherwise unforthcoming about its real-life inspiration. No matter. The premise for Sarah Gancher’s Seder is dramatic enough to...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 3, 2017 | Articles, Music
Lisa Martin writes original songs ranging from country to folk roots music, but with a dash of bluesy rock. Check out Lisa Martin’s complete Valley Advocate Sessions performance below. Interview with Lisa Martin:
by Advocate Staff | Nov 1, 2017 | Articles, Music
Check out a video teaser for Lisa Martin trio’s upcoming Valley Advocate Sessions performance, which will be released this Friday. Martin plays country, folk roots with a dash of bluesy rock.
