Music
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 26, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
It sounds like the beginning of a joke: So, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis walk into a recording studio …. But in December of 1956, this foursome just happened to all be in the same recording studio — Sam Phillips’ Sun Records in...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 28, 2016 | Articles, Film, Get Out With Staff Picks, Music
DementedFX Haunted House • Starts Saturday, It’s that time of year when all the Halloween-infused happenings pop up. If you’re into getting scared and are going to hit up a haunted house this season, this is the one to go to. In it’s third...
by Will Meyer | Oct 3, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter
20-Something Vision It’s an amazing feeling to bear witness to art you feel moved by — especially when that art is ephemeral. And it’s no less amazing to see a side of someone that you didn’t even realize existed. This is what happened when I first heard Pussy, a self...
by Will Meyer | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Leisure, Music, Newsletter
This Friday night, Sept. 23, there are at least six shows I want to attend. It wouldn’t be surprising if some touring band squeezes in a last-minute basement show. There are other bars and venues, too — Ben Folds is playing the Calvin, for one — and maybe a festival...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Canciones Criollas Thursday offers a festive evening of Latin food and music with Criollo Clasico Trio, one of the most eclectic Caribbean musical ensembles touring today. Sliding playfully between Latin, classical, Afro-Cuban, and jazz, the band — led by famed Puerto...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter, Stage
Play it Again, Sheldon John Sheldon has latched himself to so many meteoric musical acts, it’s a wonder that he hasn’t ascended beyond our earthly ears completely. Thankfully, he retains an intimate connection to the Valley, despite his years writing and playing for...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 12, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Worm, Baby, Worm Smell that brisk fall air coming down from the mountains? It’s nearly fall, which marks the return of the Worm. Now in its 18th year, the Wormtown Music Festival hosts a weekend of music on the wooded grounds of Camp Kee-Wanee on the Green River....
by Gary Carra | Sep 12, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Nightcrawler
Could you be… won’t you be… my neighbor? It’s an indelible marriage of image and song performed daily by Fred Rogers on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood as he shed his business casual attire and slipped into his favorite sweater and sneaks. He was an...
by Jennifer Levesque and Peter Vancini | Sep 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
The Melvins occupy a strange space in the rock music landscape. They’re revered by fellow musicians and rock nerds as pioneers of the ’80s grunge rock scene, as original and weird today as they were 30 years ago, yet they fly largely under the radar of most...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Give Us The Funk The New Orleans jazz scene didn’t see Benny Jones coming. Back in 1977, he and members of the Tornado Brass Band created a new ensemble, called the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, with an eye to revolutionize old sounds. The music they played combined funk...
by Will Meyer | Sep 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Spotty Results I learned some shocking things about Spotify recently. The average employee rakes in $166,000 a year, and the highest executive compensation has increased over 300 percent since 2014, reaching as much as $18.9 million. Despite that, Spotify has never...
by Gary Carra | Aug 29, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
He is certainly a scene fixture, clocking more than his share of road miles and hours packed in vans. But let’s face it: the guy’s named after a luxury vehicle, not to mention immensely talented. So why wouldn’t a talent buyer tap the Valley’s...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Out Standing in Their Fields For 26 years now, the Advocate has awarded high marks to all of those Valley musicians willing to pack their muscle, humor, skill, and silly costume pieces out into the beautiful, grassy Look Park every year for Transperformance, the...
by Will Meyer | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter
We Buffer, We Suffer Candace Clement has been a been a member of the Northampton band Bunny’s A Swine for eight years. On songs like “Greetings from the Bottom,” her Strat intertwines with Emerson Stevens’ 3-string guitar contraption like a ball of twine, which gets...
by Gary Carra | Aug 26, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Seba-(no)-dough Show Eric Gaffney says sayonara to summer with free Florence show Sebadoh co-founder Eric Gaffney rounds out the Acoustic Saturday Summer Series at JJ’s Tavern in Florence this Saturday, Aug. 27. “I recorded two full-length records in a six...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
The Valley’s cheeriest new festival doubles in size for its second year The hip cats that comprise Lake Street Dive must be halfway through their nine lives by now. Since the four members met at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music in 2004, their sound has...
by Hunter Styles and Peter Vancini | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
CHRISTINA COURTIN Saturday, 3:00 – 3:40 The Brooklyn-based Courtin may not be the only Juilliard-trained classical violinist and composer on hand this weekend, but she is definitely the most colorful, bending genres as exuberantly as she can switch between...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Shake the Trees The woods of Western Mass promise to be rather loud this weekend for RPM Fest, which brings three days of rock, punk, and metal to Greenfield. As usual, this will be a totally awesome time: vendors, games, raffles, BYOB camping, and live sets by Lich...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Get Out With Staff Picks, Leisure, Music
CT HorrorFest • Saturday My favorite time of the year is around the corner, and all these marvelous Halloween events keep popping up. This Saturday, feast your eyes upon some of horror’s finest. Meet and greet with the “Godfather of the Dead” George A. Romero. The...
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 22, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News, Newsletter, Scene Here
The old familiar smell of hundreds of people’s body odors mingles with the dust kicking up under our feet and the marijuana smoke hanging low in the air to form that perfect outdoor concert aroma at Mountain Park in Holyoke Saturday.Turkuaz, each member head to toe in...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 15, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
FRIDAY: Hello, Westfield! The sign FREE MUSIC doesn’t always promise a good time, but trust us, we vetted this one for you. Shenanigans hosts Easthampton’s James Alan Barry Jr., Haverhill alt-rockers Analog Heart, acoustic soul rocker Kelsey Veillette with a full...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 18, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Around the World in 60 Minutes It’s fitting that the choral group Roomful of Teeth is on tour during the 2016 Olympic Games. For one thing, the eight-person ensemble — founded by Williams College professor Brad Wells in 2009 — has set out to “mine the expressive...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 18, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Leisure, Music
TITANIS Farewell Show in Florence – Friday Springfield’s ambient, heavy doomers TITANIS are bidding farewell? Insert sad face here. Make sure to check them out before you can’t. It’s worth it. Also that night, rockers A Moment To Riot, Nim and...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 15, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
The Supergroup Next Door Mystics Anonymous is local singer-songwriter Jeff Steblea’s new musical project, best defined as eclectic independent rock. “With Mystics,” says Steblea, “the whole point was to establish a project where nothing is off-limits.” His bandmates...
by Gary Carra | Aug 15, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Leisure, Music, Newsletter, Nightcrawler
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Thomas Delmer “Artimus” Pyle comes to the Valley this Saturday, Aug. 20. He’ll be performing with his Artimus Pyle Band and their “ultimate tribute to Ronnie Van Zandt’s Lynyrd Skynyrd” as part of the Rock The Boot Music Fest,...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 8, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Exile on High Street Young rockers Paper City Exile play Holyoke Musicians, like all of us, hold a few personal details close to the chest. For local rockers Paper City Exile, the little secret is hardly a secret: the three of them are still in high school. That’s...
by Will Meyer | Aug 8, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter
One of the pitfalls of writing a bi-monthly column is the fact that I can barely scratch the surface of all of the cool stuff that’s happening around the Pioneer Valley. There is so much! This week’s column will serve as an informal catch-up on some new(ish) releases....
by Jennifer Levesque | Aug 8, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News, Scene Here
Down an old country road, tucked into the mountains in Becket, rests the 200-year-old Dream Away Lodge. The romantic name suits the intimate atmosphere with dim lighting and couples in every nook. It’s a lot like entering a good friend’s living room with unique,...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 1, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Taj and FriendsThe free outdoor Jazz and Roots Festival, in the heart of Springfield, gets musicians, local businesses, nonprofits, community groups, and families out into the open air to celebrate great music together. This year’s lineup includes Taj Mahal, Eric...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 1, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Take Me to the River Culture We always have a bunch of local outings in mind for the weekend, but this Saturday, hanging out in the sunshine with some Penobscot hoop dancers is right at the top of our to-do list. The third annual Pocumtuck Homelands Festival...
by Ken Maiuri | Aug 1, 2016 | Articles, Music, Newsletter
Jeff Martell called himself a “New Age Psychedelic Folksinger.” The Northampton singer-songwriter filled his life with music, whether it was performing solo or with bands across New England, working with the Green River Festival since 2001 (festival director Jim Olsen...
by Kristin Palpini | Jul 20, 2016 | Articles, Music, News, Newsletter, Uncategorized
1881 — Chester W. Chapin, a railroad tycoon and congressman from Springfield, commissions renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create a bronze statue of his ancestor and early city settler, Deacon Samuel Chapin. Springfield builds a small park, Stearns Square,...
by Hunter Styles | Jul 19, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music
Ramblin’ Woman In May 2014, Greenfield native Kristen Ford packed up her stuff, sold whatever wouldn’t fit in her van, parked her fiancée in the seat next to her, and set off on what she refers to as “the never-ending tour.” After two years on the road, playing...
by Hunter Styles | Jul 11, 2016 | Articles, Music, Newsletter, Uncategorized
Triple Threat I tried to be open-minded as a young music lover, but despite the curious sonic wanderings of my teenage years, my ears could never quite latch onto songs with no vocals. As soon as I’d hit a track called “Instrumental,” I’d stubbornly skip it (the...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 12, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News, Stage
Split Shift/Fear Nuttin Band – Saturday Split Shift and Fear Nuttin Band are clebrating their 15th anniversaries this weekend. iRockRadio presents Rock Fest featuring the two bands, along with other locals: Sakara, Sever The Drama, NoSho, Neon Fauna, Sanity is...
by Jennifer Levesque | Jul 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News, Stage
This past Saturday at Diva’s Nightclub in Northampton, a tribute to KJ Morris was held. Under the name Daddy K, Morris was a dancer and drag performer at Diva’s and was a huge part of the LGBT community in the Valley. Drag queens and kings, close friends,...
by Gary Carra | Jun 22, 2016 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Music, Nightcrawler
SWMRS boasts unique punk pedigree What’s in a name? The members of SWMRS are barely in their 20s and can already claim quite a lot. Reportedly inspired by watching Jack Black and his homage to headbanging — the film School of Rock — together in...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Red Hot Blues Shemekia Copeland sings electric blues, gospel, and R&B like her heart and soul depend on it. Whether she’s belting out a raucous blues-rocker, firing up a blistering soul-shouter, bringing the spirit to a gospel-fueled R&B rave-up, or digging...
by Will Meyer | Jun 20, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music, News
The magic of live music stems from the intimacy of being in the same room as the performer, but Sam Hadge’s talent is capturing that intimacy for the online world who couldn’t make it to the show.Since I started going to DIY shows with regularity about a year and a...
by Will Meyer | Jun 14, 2016 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter
Downtown Jam Matt Robidoux is nervous. He is sitting on a patch of grass in downtown Greenfield, adjacent to a municipal parking lot and the Mexican restaurant Mesa Verde. Across the street, a small handful of musicians are shooting the shit and smoking cigarettes,...
by Gary Carra | Jun 16, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Pocketful of Sexchange reunites scene staples The Pixies’ Frank Black famously referenced them as a “dangerously untethered band specializing in abandon and dementia.” They’ve also shared stages with area upstarts The Unband and Fountains of...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 9, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Leisure, Music
THE LINEUP FRIDAY Peter Wolf NRBQ Dustbowl Revival Charles Neville Ola Fresca Mariachi Flor De Toloache Campos Xixa SATURDAY Dawes Shakey Graves Shovels & Rope The Suffers The Felice Brothers Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds And The Kids Dustbowl Revival The...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
Interstate 24 carries traffic through the heart of Manchester, Tennessee. But on June 21, 2002, the highway turned into a parking lot. The cause: Bonnaroo.In the 14 years since, the music and arts festival has streamlined the traffic plan with police and city...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
Get SchooledThe GZA (minus the RZA, the Ol’ Dirty BZA, U-God, Chef, and the Ghostface Killah) is stopping by the Valley to hold a master class in lyrical flow Wednesday night at Pearl Street. Known as the “spiritual head” of the seminal Wu-Tang Clan, GZA/Genius is...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
There’s only so many ways to take a group photo of a bunch of musicians — we know this because we see a lot of repetition in band publicity photos. How is it that creative and talented musicians across the planet keep coming up with the same band photo over and over...
by By Kristin Palpini | Jun 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
It’s okay to be stumped when your friend invites you out to see his favorite math rock funk band — tonight with a Zydeco guest washboard player! The variety of musicians in the Valley is immense, and so is the range of music they play. So, if you ever wondered whether...
by Gary Carra | Jun 6, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Carrots enhance the eyesight. Spinach helps you grow big and strong. And cranberries … make you rock?”It’s how I learned to play guitar back when I was 14,” explains the 33-year-old singer-songwriter Holly Miranda. “I was on a...
by Hunter Styles | Jun 2, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music
Natural Born Killers Fourth of July comes twice this year: once on the date you’d expect, and again on July 21, when Vegas-based power-rock balladeers The Killers play Mohegan Sun. It’s been a few years since we’ve come out to see Brandon Flowers and his friends play...
by Kristin Palpini | May 23, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
Brian Cooper has what seems like an obvious suggestion when it comes to fixing the C_lvin Theater’s marquee: Use money collected through the $2 “Historic Preservation Fund” fee attached to every Calvin ticket sold to buy a new one.The letter “A” has been missing from...
by Advocate Staff | May 23, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Leisure, Music, News, Stage
Happy Brffday, GirlThe self-anointed Queen of Crossplay (a blend of cross dressing and cosplay) Serenity Lockhart is having a birthday party Saturday night at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke and everyone is invited. Dress to impress Her Majesty and to coordinate with the...
by Advocate Staff | May 23, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music
The Big Easty New Orleans and Easthampton are 1,500 miles and a couple of cultural lightyears apart, but both cities love good music like nothing else. Brewmaster’s Jazz, the recently-opened concert venue inside New City Brewery on Pleasant Street, hosts a two-night...
by Gary Carra | May 23, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
By Gary Carra In 2014, Thomas Kielbania Jr. revived Chicopee’s storied Kielbasa Festival after a nearly two-decade hiatus. Now, he’s reinventing it – and renaming it, and relocating it – to West Springfield, for what’s shaping up to be a...
by Kristin Palpini | May 24, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Leisure, Music, News, Stage
By Kristin Palpini After looking into what the Historic Preservation Fund fee charged for admission to Calvin Theater concerts is for, Advocate staff wanted to know how fees compare around the area. Below is a comparison of the fees charged for upcoming shows at area...
by Hunter Styles | May 16, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
Adhamh Roland has the look down pat: black-jacket tuxedo, bowler hat, and a friendly twinkle in his eye that speaks volumes. “Yes,” his smile says, “I have an accordion. Yes, I show up unannounced, bearing a special message from someone you know. And yes, I’m going to...
by Kristin Palpini | May 18, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
By Gary Carra Forget about the unemployment rates and bleak economic forecasts from the usual cast of politicos and pundits. Northampton’s Betsy-Dawn Williams says she has proof positive it’s a bull market out there. “I’ve just been signed for...
by Hunter Styles | May 11, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Leisure, Music, News
Holyoke Rocks The enterprising staff at Gateway City Arts always seems to be revving its engines, pushing the canal-side arts center to host the most fun and interesting programming in a rapidly-evolving downtown Holyoke. This weekend, they’ve outdone...
by Kristin Palpini | May 11, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
OMG, ya’ll Frost your hair tips, put a logo across your rear, and dig out your puka shell necklace because it’s 2000 again and Aaron Carter is coming to sing at the Waterfront on Main Street in Holyoke Saturday night. It’s being promoted as a “girls night out”...
by Michael Cimaomo | May 10, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Blogs, Music, Northeast Underground
House shows have always been an important part of the DIY music scene. Whether it’s some garage rockers providing the soundtrack to a backyard party, a punk rock band playing a concert in a basement or even some indie folk musicians holding court in a living room, the...
by Gary Carra | May 9, 2016 | Columns, Music, Nightcrawler, Uncategorized
An interview with Joe Perry, Aerosmith vet and member of the Johnny Depp-led band Hollywood Vampires Gary Carra: Joe – big fan. I’ve been kicking around Western Mass for a quarter-century now, either playing music or writing music, so of course I’ve come across...
by Will Meyer | May 5, 2016 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Music
Northampton self-proclaimed pop-punks Potty Mouth formed at Smith College in 2011. Their self-titled EP came out in August. The EP, produced by John Goodmanson in Seattle (Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill) delivers five tightly-packed, driving songs that are severely...
