Articles
by Will Meyer | Oct 9, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns
Stretched between Brattleboro and Northampton, a new band, Smartyr, has come on the scene. I kept running into Chad, the main singer, at shows starting last summer. He had left behind his New Haven, CT-based band, The Chore Boys, and moved to Northampton. Every time I...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 9, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
Flipping the Bird at Priests Sometimes church is boring. But every so often — as happened in Flowery Branch, Georgia — a man stands up to flip off and yell at the pastor for recognizing teachers during a service. The man, a homeschooling father, rose to give the...
by Naila Moreira | Oct 9, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth
No living being on this Earth symbolizes my childhood and its joys more clearly than the maple. In my backyard as a child, my favorite climbing tree was a slender sugar maple right at the farthest edge of the back woods. I’d shimmy up the branches and feel the tree...
by Jack Brown | Oct 9, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
It’s October in New England, and that means it’s time for some annual traditions. Some are timeless, passed down through the generations—apple picking, hayrides—while others are more recent, and hopefully less long-lasting—the inane back and forth bickering of the...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 9, 2017 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, I’m newly in a poly triangle with two dear friends. We’re all very open about how we view partnership and love in all forms, and I didn’t hold any jealousy for their relationship until recently. Before I was a part of the relationship I wasn’t at all jealous...
by Rob Brezsny | Oct 9, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In his book The Logic of Failure, Dietrich Dorner discusses the visionaries who built the Aswan Dam in Egypt. Their efforts brought an abundance of cheap electricity to millions of people. But the planners didn’t take into account some of...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 9, 2017 | Articles, Get Out With Staff Picks
City of Homes // THURSDAY-SATURDAY Springfield metal titans City of Homes are currently in the studio working on new music as well as music videos planned for each song released. 2018 will bring the busiest of years tour-wise for these guys, but in the meantime, you...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 6, 2017 | Articles, Music
Electronic punk and glitch pop artist, Tundra Toddler, played a set for Valley Advocate Sessions on Sept. 20, which is now available to stream. Interview with Tundra Toddler:
by Advocate Staff | Oct 5, 2017 | Articles, Music
Check out the Valley Advocate Sessions teaser video for electro punk and glitch pop artist Tundra Toddler. Tundra Toddler’s full performance will be available for streaming online this Friday.
by Chris Rohmann | Oct 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
One way to put a big play on a small stage and stay on budget is by having two actors play all the parts. In Silverthorne Theater Company’s current offering, that’s not a cost-cutting shortcut, it’s the key concept. Greater Tuna, playing this weekend and next,...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
For many New Englanders, fall is a special time that people living in the sun year-round don’t get to experience. The air gets crisp; the leaves blaze bright orange, yellow, and red; apples reach their peak of juicy, crunchy goodness; the smell of harvest is all...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News, Newsletter
Fall 2017 in the Valley is stuffed with anticipated moments of cultural and artistic profundity; below is just a taste of all the amazing events taking place October into early-December across the three counties, and southern Vermont. Fragile Freedom After the U.S....
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
Ripped apart by Hurricane Maria about two weeks ago, Puerto Rico is suffering from a severe lack of food, water, medicine, and shelter. Only 5 percent of the nation has electricity, according to the Associated Press. Federal aid is slow to arrive, people on the island...
by Chris Goudreau | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Featured, Newsletter, Wellness
Armené Margosian, 52, of Greenfield, sat waiting in a medical chair at Achieve TMS East’s Northampton office on Pleasant Street, her hands holding a pillow alongside her car keys. Her head was covered in a dark blue cap, while strapped into a metal, robotic-looking...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Newsletter, Review
Captivating. Whimsical. An idea at once exotic and comforting. Art in the Orchard is a curatorial triumph striking a perfect balance between art and nature. This was my first visit to Art in the Orchard, which has been hosted by Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton in odd...
by Jennifer Levesque | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
On the first fall evening that actually felt like fall I walk into the 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence just in time to catch soundcheck for the first band, Holyoke’s stoner psych-rock, Oxen. Let’s take a trip down memory lane. Oxen’s first EP The Glass...
by Rob Brezsny | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You wouldn’t expect a five-year-old child to paint a facsimile of Picasso’s Guernica or sing Puccini’s opera, La Boheme. Similarly, you shouldn’t fault your companions and you for not being perfect masters of the art of intimate...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 2, 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 | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
What’s a hipster’s favorite wine grape varietal? I mean, it’s wicked obscure, you’ve probably never heard of it. I’ve adapted one of my favorite hipster jokes to highlight one of the still obscure, I-knew-these-wines-before-they-sold-out regions: Portugal. Portugal as...
by Bob Flaherty | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles
When I think about the refugees living here in Northampton, including two young Congolese brothers, Gaylain and Olivier Ngoy, who spent 14 years in a sweltering camp in Borundi, I feel some pride that this America, the America of King Street and the Oxbow and Hospital...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
It’s been over a year now since I got my heart stomped by my ex-girlfriend. We were together for 11 years and our relationship ended very badly. Even after such a long term relationship, I’m still pretty young — in my mid-30s — and I’m pretty sure I’m a catch. But,...
by Jack Brown | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns
It would be unfair to the memory of Philip K. Dick to say that he’s having a resurgence. The author, who passed away at the age of 53 in 1982, has been more visible than usual of late thanks to a few headline grabbing adaptations, most notably the sci-fi sequel Blade...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
Ric Flair, wrestling’s golden boy in the ‘80s, says he’s slept with around 10,000 women during his 68 years on Earth. Woooo! Known for his flamboyant wrestling persona on WWE, Flair made this confession for an upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 documentary. The Nature Boy says...
by Gary Carra | Sep 29, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Still haven’t secured your Maine baked spud or lobster-laden Mac N’ Cheese from the New Hampshire building? Better hurry. Its almost time to shepherd the Clydesdales back into the trailers and put the burlap sacks of the Giant Slide in mothballs. But that...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 29, 2017 | Articles, Music
Court Etiquette is a Northampton-based indie pop band fused with rollicking roots rock. The band performed on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage on Sept. 5. Check out the band’s full performance in the video below. Interview with Court Etiquette:
by Advocate Staff | Sep 28, 2017 | Articles, Music
Court Etiquette is a Northampton-based indie pop band fused with rollicking roots rock. The band performed on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage on Sept. 5 and their full performance will be released this Friday. Check out a teaser for Court Etiquette on Sessions...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 26, 2017 | Articles
Correction The cover story of the Sept. 21 Valley Advocate, “Sacred Enough? Native American sites in the Valley destroyed with a might shrug,” wrongly suggested that a 6.2 megawatt solar project in Shutesbury had been shown to destroy or threaten Native American...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Jamey Summers is in a good mood for someone about to have surgery. Beside the 41-year-old Northampton resident, who sits on an exam chair, Dr. Kate Atkinson is going over the procedure with her staff — they will insert four small rods containing drugs to curb opioid...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
You can smell fall in the air — and in Massachusetts the aroma is a lot danker than usual. This October will mark the first major outdoor weed harvest since people ages 21 and up were given the green light to legally grow marijuana in Massachusetts on Dec. 15, 2016....
by Advocate Staff | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News
Saturating the All — Paradise Pond, Northampton There are, amongst the chronic flux of recurring secular miracles, spaces between the miracles that are equally miraculous. Cases in point: the lazy wands of industrial hydro-bazookas saturating the all- female college...
by Chris Goudreau | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
At St. John’s Congregational Church in Springfield more than 200 people mourned the loss of well-known and beloved activist and community leader Jafet Robles. Robles, 33, was involved with Neighbor to Neighbor and other groups with initiatives to end mass...
by Rob Brezsny | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats likes to play along with the music of nature. On one occasion he collaborated with Mandeville Creek in Montana. He listened and studied the melodies that emanated from its flowing current. Then he moved...
by Chris Goudreau | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Review
Mama’s Marmalade is a burst of sunshine that makes dark clouds dissipate with the band’s lush vocal harmonies and jammy acoustic newgrass blend of mandolin, banjo, violin, bass, and guitar. On June 2, the Northampton-based bluegrass quintet released its debut 10-track...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
I recently moved into my aunt’s house, and I now live with my 16-year-old female cousin. Being in her life now makes me realize that I can give her advice on her first relationships and her first love … possibly. When I was 16, I wish I could have had someone in...
by Jack Brown | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
Even though the town has lacked a dedicated movie house for more than five years, Northampton has continued to find ways to bring film to area moviegoers. Cinema Northampton has done a fine job of scheduling its fun, community-focused, outdoor movie nights, screening...
by Lena Wilson | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Film, Newsletter, Stream Queen
For all the amazing potential of life, sometimes things just suck. In times of confusion and desolation, we often turn to art. Maybe we want to use fictional problems to understand our own real ones, or maybe we just want to turn something on as a distraction. Hard...
by Will Meyer | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Newsletter
Last Monday, I reluctantly went to a house show in Hadley. I was going ’cause my friends were going — probably, but I was also vaguely interested in seeing some band from Minnesota that was supposed to be good. Honestly, I had radically low expectations. I saw the...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
A Home for the Homeless? Not having a place to live was not a good enough excuse to get a Turkish man out of house arrest. A 31-year-old homeless man living in Istanbul, was sentenced to house arrest for using and selling drugs in April. In need of a house to be...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 25, 2017 | Articles, Film, News
A birdboy, 1900s Northampton, virtual realities, silly horror, and brimstone are among this year’s offerings at the Northampton Film Festival. Now in its third year under the leadership of Northampton Community Television, the annual multi-day event gets going...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 22, 2017 | Articles, Music
Lonely Whale is an electric singer-songwriter with rock and indie folk influences. She played Valley Advocate Sessions on September 5 and her entire set is now available for viewing. Check it out in the video below. Interview with Lonely Whale: Like what you’re...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 21, 2017 | Articles
This week’s Valley Advocate Sessions artist is Lonely Whale, a local electric singer-writer with indie rock and folk influences. Lonely Whale’s full Sessions performance will be released this Friday. Until then, here’s a teaser video of Lonely...
by Jennifer Levesque | Sep 21, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music
The Pixies rocked out a 31-song set, which was close to 2 hours of non-stop jams last night at the John M. Greene Hall, at Smith College in Northampton. Here’s a sample of some pictures and video from their show. — Jennifer Levesque,...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 20, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Stage, Stagestruck
Two plays in the Valley this weekend couldn’t be more different but at the same time so close to the bone of our current national crisis of xenophobia and identity. Building the Wall, in Northampton, is a tense confrontation that touches on today’s headlines and then...
by Jennifer Levesque | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Music, Newsletter, Review, Valley Show Girl
For the last six weekends of summer, Millpond.Live puts on a free grassroots festival at Millside Park in Easthampton for all ages to enjoy. Produced by Laudable Productions, a creative agency in Easthampton that has a plethora of services including community...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News
A Pioneer Valley activist network to support local undocumented immigrants — Sanctuary in the Streets — went into action this week to accompany Springfield resident Lucio Enrique Perez Ortiz on his check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials....
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, News
The long-planned railroad underpass for the Northampton bike path is nearing completion, but still faces a twisted bureaucratic obstacle course before its final stretch. To learn about the project’s progress, the Advocate first contacted the City Council of...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Scary Movie Club
All aboard the hype train to Derry, Maine, where a group of 1980s youngins face off against a mysterious shapeshifting clown in the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s 1,000-plus-page horror opus, IT. There’s been dozens of Stephen King adapted films — some great (The...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Review
I first met Steve Bernstein when I was working at a small library in Marlborough, New Hampshire, a little more than a decade ago. In the newsletter I put a note in for a writers’ group without knowing if anyone from the little town would show up. Steve was among the...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Newsletter, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Psychologists say most people need a scapegoat — a personification of wickedness and ignorance onto which they can project the unacknowledged darkness in their own hearts. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: The coming weeks will be...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, The V-Spot
I know your column is mainly about sex, but for me, it’s all about the romance. I’ve been struggling for decades to balance my love of flowers, dancing, and candlelight with my love of a husband who struggles with intimacy (for good reasons) and who promises me these...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our letters to the editor page. Here you’ll find comments from readers 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?...
by Chris Rohmann | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
The area’s summer theaters have folded their metaphorical tents for the year, though three of the Berkshire companies are also mounting fall shows. For this critic, it was a Sergio Leone season: good, bad, and occasionally ugly. (An example of the extremes —...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter, Uncategorized
At the Headfort School in Kells, Ireland, two of the school’s most popular teachers are getting ready to retire. The husband and wife team have been educating and inspiring children for almost half a century, and their example — and what the possibility of their...
by Monte Belmonte | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Monte Belmonte Wines, Newsletter
Bordeaux: It’s the wine capital of the world. Even Thomas Jefferson, while keeping busy hypocritically impeding people’s lives and liberties, pursued wine happiness there. When most people think of Bordeaux, they think, “Dude, how the hell am I supposed to pronounce...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Bizarro Briefs, News
If a Monkey Takes a Selfie, Is It Yours? The case of who owns the copyright to a selfie taken by a monkey — the monkey or the guy who owns the camera — has been settled out of court. In 2015, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued on behalf of the...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 18, 2017 | Articles, Arts
In its second year, the Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival has a killer line up of below-the-drinking-age talent. Saturday features a full day of rock with performances by local bands Impending Exorcism, Gabe Brodeur (frontman for Court Etiquette, which P.S. performed on...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 15, 2017 | Articles, Music, Uncategorized
Local indie folk trio, Parlicium, performed on the Valley Advocate Sessions stage on August 15. The band has roots in acoustic folk rock and was one of five bands to perform at the Green River Fest 2017’s Next Wave Stage. Interview with Parlicium: Like what you’re...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 13, 2017 | Articles, Music
Parlicium is an indie folk trio from Western Mass with acoustic roots. The band is one of five to perform at the Green River Fest 2017’s Next Wave Stage. Check out Parlicium’s full set when it’s released this Friday. Can’t wait for Friday to see more...
by Chris Goudreau | Sep 13, 2017 | Articles, Music, News, Newsletter
Peter Wolf, the dynamic rock and blue-eyed soul frontman singer for the J. Geils Band, who co-wrote some of the band’s most popular songs such as “Love Stinks,” and “Must Of Got Lost,” is gearing up to play the Academy of Music in Northampton on Oct. 13. Valley...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter
Songs From the Rodeo Flathead Rodeo is Northampton-based roots rockabilly band recently won Mark Sherry’s Valley Musical Showcase in July, a regular, judged competition at New City Brewery in Easthampton. So, now they have the honor of opening and closing this week’s...
