Featured
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 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 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 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 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 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 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, Featured, Music, News, Newsletter
One of the brightest music stars in the Pioneer Valley and the world succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Saxophonist Charles Neville, age 79, passed away Thursday, April 26, at his home in Huntington. A member of the acclaimed Neville Brothers band, Charles...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 27, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz of San Juan, Puerto Rico spoke to students, faculty, and staff at Mount Holyoke College on April 26 recounting the tragedies the occured after Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit the island seven months ago, while also being optimistic in Puerto...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 27, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Music, News, Newsletter
Charles Neville, Grammy award winning saxophonist and member of R&B, soul, and funk group, The Neville Brothers, died on Thursday at the age of 79. He had been battling pancreatic cancer for the past several months. Aaron Neville, Charles’ brother and...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 26, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter, Uncategorized
https://valleyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/video-1524758618.mp4 “As far as we know we’re the only (team) that jumps in a bar,” said Jennifer Therkelsen, 31, of Shutesbury. Therkelson, who is the fundraising manager for the all-adult Pioneer Valley Jump Rope...
by Jennifer Levesque | Apr 26, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
Valley Advocate writer alum Tom Sturm has a new gig these days. Dressing like a pirate and singing the songs of pirate life for kids — but pleasantly appealing for adults as well. With the album glued in my CD player in my car for weeks, my 7-year-old son and I knew...
by Will Meyer | Apr 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Tucked away in an old house in Hadley live two musicians named Sal and Cooper, who collectively make up the rock duo The Taxidermists. The band has nurtured something of a cult following from DIY persistence and their 2015 record Honesty Box. One showgoer recently...
by Gina Beavers | Apr 26, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Film, Newsletter
Colleen Lyon is a busy woman in a club of one. The owner of Vermage Productions, a Western Mass movie production company, Lyon laments that she is the only female movie producer in the area. When asked if she gets lonely, she sighs and says, “It’s lonely. Very, very...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 25, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Over 20 municipal leaders from all over Western Mass attended an April 24 meeting with state environmental officials to discuss a state grant program that will help communities all over the Commonwealth to prepare for their unique climate change needs. Katie...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 25, 2018 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Valley Gives Day, the day in which Pioneer Valley residents are encouraged to support local nonprofit organizations, will likely be happening for the last time on Tuesday, May 1. Springfield-based nonprofit Community Foundation of Western Mass has run the event since...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 25, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Get Out With Staff Picks, Newsletter
Far Out Film Discussion: Donnie Darko // MONDAY, April 30 Forbes Library in Northampton hosts the Far Out Film Discussion, which is basically a book club for weird cult classic and art house films. The next meeting the group will be discussing 2001’s cult classic,...
by Meg Bantle | Apr 24, 2018 | Articles, Arts, Featured, News, Newsletter
Over the past 20 years, people have begun to care more and more about what goes into their bodies. Most think about this in terms of the food they eat, but for customers of Oh My Sensuality Shop in Northampton, the same can be said for sex toys. “Most companies have...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 24, 2018 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
Smith College hosted a fascinating speaker earlier this month who addressed a topic that’s been on my mind for several months leading up to the 2018 midterms: communicating and collaborating with people in what’s called “Trump country.” Without their help, we’re all...
by From our readers | Apr 24, 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 Chris Rohmann | Apr 23, 2018 | Articles, Featured, Newsletter, Stagestruck
The scene: desolation. The time: the aftermath of a cataclysm that has destroyed civilization and left only industrial scaffolding and piles of junk. Piles that include, let’s see, a bucketful of juggling clubs, a couple of unicycles, a teeter board and, oh yes, a...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 19, 2018 | Daily Calendar, Featured, Newsletter
THURSDAY 4/19 MUSIC Bill Charlap Trio: 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton. Dirk Quinn Band w/ The Franz Robert Quartet: 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. The Stone Church, 210 Main St., Brattleboro. Luke Baillargeon: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m....
by Meg Bantle | Apr 10, 2018 | Featured, News, Newsletter
The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees meet at UMass Amherst once a year, and this year, on April 6, they were met by union employees from all over the state demanding “respect and fair contracts.” “Our belts are as tight as they’re going to get,” said Eve...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 10, 2018 | Featured, News, Newsletter
Irida Kakhtiranova faced discrimination in her home in the Ural region of Russia due to her same-sex relationship with the woman she loved. In 2003, she left to come to the United States. Fifteen years later, she is married to U.S born man and has three children, but...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 7, 2018 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
In 2011, Anheuser-Busch InBev bought the Chicago craft brewery Goose Island. Today, the international conglomerate owns stake in a dozen formerly-craft American breweries. (Leah Kelley photo) I used to bartend at one of the oldest dive bars in Western Mass,...
by Rob Brezny | Mar 5, 2018 | Astrology, Featured, Newsletter
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The men who work on offshore oil rigs perform demanding, dangerous tasks on a regular basis. If they make mistakes, they may get injured or befoul the sea with petroleum. As you might guess, the culture on these rigs has traditionally been...
by Advocate Staff | Feb 12, 2018 | Featured, News, Newsletter, Podcast
There never fails to be a whole lot of news about everyone’s favorite sort-of legal recreational/medicinal substance: cannabis. This week on our new Valley Advocate Podcast, produced in collaboration with Amherst Media, we speak with columnist Meg Bantle about...
by Hunter Styles | Feb 12, 2018 | Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Beerhunter
Chris Peterson tweaks his craft beer recipes the same way he works on multimillion-dollar military aircraft: very, very carefully. Peterson is a tech sergeant in the 439th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee. As a technician and...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Feb 5, 2018 | Columns, Featured, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Hi Yana, We met when we were 15 years old on the other side of the world. We were instantly attracted to each other and even made out on the first night. Saw each other over the years randomly on vacations, weddings etc. Tried to stay in touch and hang on to something...
by Jack Brown | Feb 5, 2018 | Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
We parents of the Pioneer Valley have a pretty sweet deal. You might not realize it if you don’t have kids in your life, but once you’re clued into it you begin to discover that there is a near-endless list of things to do with your little ones. Hayrides, science...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 4, 2018 | Featured
Best Of The Valley Readers’ Poll 2018 ballot voting is now live!! Click here to vote!
by Chris Goudreau | Jan 2, 2018 | Featured, Music, Newsletter, Review
This past year Winterpills member and Northampton-based singer-songwriter Phillip B. Price remastered a dozen of his past solo albums recorded from 1988 to 2004, which had never seen the light of day. With a back catalogue of more than a hundred songs to choose from,...
by Advocate Staff | Jan 2, 2018 | Featured, News, Newsletter
The warmer fall was nice and December was capped off by a white Christmas. But now that we’re in the heart of winter, it might be a bit harder to get outside for your usual walks or bike rides. And meanwhile, one of your New Year’s resolutions was to get...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 26, 2017 | Featured, News, Newsletter
It’s Halos and Horns with a side of hashtags this year. While President Donald Trump was busy tweeting from the White House throughout 2017 (we gave him his own whole article), the rest of the world had their own Twitter responses, many of which inspired the...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Dec 26, 2017 | Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
As we continue the Valley Advocate tradition of awarding halos to the good and horns to the bad in 2017, I reflect on the year’s ups and downs. It didn’t take long to realize that a lot of the “downs” had something in common – they originated with President (for now)...
by Chris Rohmann | Dec 26, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
In this time of long-overdue comeuppance for sexual harassment and assault, I approached my annual reckoning of gender equity in theater with fresh eyes. Nationwide, women continue to be devalued and underrepresented in almost all areas of theatrical creation, on and...
by Meg Bantle | Dec 26, 2017 | Cannabis!, Columns, Featured, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Last week I sat down with Karima Rizk for a cup of coffee in her kitchen in Easthampton to discuss her new business, Cafe Vert. The coffee was like many other homebrewed cups of coffee: it was rich, balanced, and welcoming on the brisk December morning. But unlike...
by Chris Goudreau | Dec 18, 2017 | Featured, Music, Newsletter
Joe Louis Walker has a voice out of classic soul and blues guitar chops that were inspired by some of the greats — B.B. King, Muddy Waters, the list goes on. Walker, a Blues Hall of Fame inductee, grew up in San Francisco playing blues before entering into the...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Dec 18, 2017 | Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
North Korea’s steps toward accelerating its nuclear program and testing its missiles has been truly horrifying. So has President Donald Trump’s response, with threats to release “fire and fury” upon North Korea. Nuclear devastation is one of the gravest threats we...
by Will Meyer | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Featured, Newsletter
I am the Grinch. People who know me know this — my mom better than anyone. I scoff at Christmas songs and “holiday cheer,” wanting nothing to do with a holiday that is closely aligned with capitalism, patriarchy, and bad parties. But nothing warms my Grinch heart like...
by Meg Bantle | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Emily Cooper, 23, is a graduate student at UMass Amherst who has taken oral contraceptives since she was 15 years old. In 2013, when a condom failed during a snowstorm, University Health Services (UHS) and the university bus system were both closed due to the weather....
by Dave Eisenstadter | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
Let me start by saying that I would avoid the internet if I could. It is creepy to think about huge corporations tracking each page I visit, and, potentially through my smartphone, actually physically tracking me wherever I go. Social media interactions are a far cry...
by Gina Beavers | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Featured, Newsletter, Review
Celebrating 10 years of performance theater, The Royal Frog Ballet trades the wild outdoors for the pristine white walls of A.P.E. Gallery in downtown Northampton this month. Their retrospective, HINDSIGHT/FORESIGHT, is a thoughtful and vivid collection of paintings,...
by Jennifer Levesque | Dec 11, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Uncategorized, Valley Show Girl
About a month ago, Valley musician Nate Martel came into the Advocate office to drop off his debut solo album “Short Stay.” Being a fan of his role in rock group, Outer Stylie, I was pumped to get the CD into my car as soon as I left work. And that I did. Recorded at...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 4, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
We know our winters in Western Massachusetts. As the last of the color fades from the leaves, the realization sets in that it’s going to be a while before the warm and colorful days of spring. But winter doesn’t have to be all about darkness and cold. Winter is a time...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Dec 4, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
During now-President Donald Trump’s hateful and divisive campaign, Northampton’s Human Rights Commission noted anecdotally how even in this Western Massachusetts community, there seemed to be an increase in racism, sexism, and anti-semitism, spurred on by Trump’s...
by Chris Goudreau | Dec 4, 2017 | Articles, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Review, Review
Northampton-based funk sextet Fat Bradley’s new self-titled five-song extended play (EP) recording is an acid jazz fusion of instrumental kaleidoscopic funky rock that grooves along with frantic energy and a sense of reckless abandon that’s downright entertaining....
