Music
by Advocate Staff | Nov 25, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Get Out With Staff Picks, Music
DJ Studebaker Hawk • Saturday Let’s face it — Thursday and Friday night’s activities (and workouts) will likely be lost to a tryptophan-induced food coma. Turkey dinners will become leftover turkey sandwiches for lunch and come 8 p.m. Friday evening it will be a...
by Emily Atkinson | Nov 23, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Music
“I don’t want to say stupid,” says Adam Ives, laughing, “but stupid.” I’m in the middle of a conversation about songwriting, sitting in a Northampton ice cream parlor with Rool Bunk, a rock-punk band made up of Ives and his bandmates Jasper Coles and Nate Jones. Ives...
by Amanda Drane | Nov 23, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Music
For many, dancing is a slight rock of the hips that could easily be confused with scratching an itch. This was not the case with the late “Dancing Larry” Howes. Larry was the hallmark of a good party and the king of local dancefloors. His appreciation for area...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 18, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Film, Get Out With Staff Picks, Leisure, Music, Stage
Rhythm Inc With Total Collision • Saturday This Thanksgiving week, Rhythm Inc and Total Collision — featuring members of the Springfield-based Fear Nuttin Band — will remind the Valley we have some awesome reggae-hip-hop fusion to be grateful for. The two groups will...
by Gary Carra | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Myelodysplastic syndrome — commonly referred to as MDS — is literally bad to the bone. It affects bone marrow resulting in an inadequate supply of healthy white and red blood cells in the process. Scene stalwart Ed Vadas is presently combatting said condition....
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
These are the best kind of neighbors — the kind that don’t actually live next door. And The Neighbors is a little Appalachia mixed with the grit of the Lower East Side. On Saturday the acoustic duo, with Dave Houghton of Fancy Trash and Debra DeMuth, is holding a...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 16, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Music, News
Dark Star Orchestra, a Grateful Dead cover band that plays the Dead’s concerts instead of their albums will be in Northampton Tuesday. Dark Star, Nov. 24, 8 p.m. $27.50. Calvin Theatre, 19 King St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686.
by Hunter Styles | Nov 9, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Leisure, Music
Donald Sonn strums his acoustic guitar and taps his microphone. “Can people hear me?” he asks. I can, but I’m 10 feet away. Toward the back of the room, three dozen people are looking around and talking to each other, beers in hand. A few audience members are watching...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 11, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Get Out With Staff Picks, Leisure, Music, News
Bo Burnham at the Calvin • Sunday Bo Burnham turned heads five years ago when, at 20 (he looked 16) he cracked up crowds of all ages with his self-deprecating, oft-dirty, and clever music-based comedy. On Sunday, he makes his way to his native Massachusetts for an 8...
by Gary Carra | Nov 9, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Oklahoma-based singer-songwriter John Moreland stops by Noho’s Parlor Room this Friday, Nov. 13, in support of his latest sonic labor of love. The new disc is called High on Tulsa Heat, and its arrival earlier this year was eagerly anticipated thanks in great part to...
by Gary Carra | Nov 3, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Springfield-based metal-meisters Shadows Fall have had the hardcore community scratching its collective, shoulder-length locks-laden heads in recent months. Shortly after announcing an “indefinite hiatus,” frontman Brian Fair clarified that the sonic suspension may...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 26, 2015 | Arts, Music, News, Uncategorized
On Friday, UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center welcomes five-time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves. The jazz singer, accompanied by an award-winning quintet, is on tour performing work from her first new album in five years, “Life is Beautiful,” including covers of Bob Marley,...
by Gary Carra | Oct 26, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, News, Nightcrawler
While new wave icon Howard Jones’ Nov. 4 Iron Horse show will be engaging, it will not be Engage, the crowd-funded multimedia project he recently performed in London, LA, and New York that includes interactive smartphone apps for audience members, specially...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 21, 2015 | Arts, Get Out With Staff Picks, Music, News
Llama Lasagne’s Ladies Night • Oct. 29 Local band Llama Lasagne — a conglomeration of musicians from The Mary Jane Jones, Alchemystics, and more — is hosting a Ladies Night event at the Depot at Union Station in Northampton. A portion of Ladies Night ticket sales will...
by Gary Carra | Oct 19, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
She’s spent many a Saturday night in New York City. Kinda comes with the turf when you sing lead vocals in the Saturday Night Live Band as Christine Ohlman did in the ’90s — an honor that literally gave her a front row seat to Sinead O’Connor’s papal paper rip and...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 13, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Leisure, Music, News, Wellness
Feel that chill in the air? It’s only a matter of weeks before we’re all hibernating on the couch, looking out the window at the deep freeze and wondering where all the long, fun days went. Don’t spend the winter as a sad blanket case. There’s still time to bust out...
by Story and Photos
Amanda
Drane | Oct 13, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News, Stage
Within seconds of meeting each other, tap and jazz dancer David Bovat and percussionist Jeff Hinrichs are moving and grooving. Hinrichs lays down a quick tempo on the djembe, which makes a deep, hollow sound, and Bovat’s tap shoes start click-clacking in double time....
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 13, 2015 | Arts, Music, News
Hunter — Folk rock I first listened to Hunter about a month ago. The tune was goofy and fun, but it didn’t immediately grab me. I thought that was it for Hunter and me, but I was wrong. The siren song got me. Lead singer Hunter Stamas Facebook-messaged the...
by Gary Carra | Oct 13, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Were it not for the marking of a certain sonic milestone, The Lonesome Brothers’ appearance at the Iron Horse this weekend couldn’t be more business as usual. Another weekend, some original tunes from their catalog of more than 100, another venue. “Basically, the gist...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 6, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News
Valley musician Mikey Sweet spent two weeks hitchhiking around the Northeast last month, holding a sign reading: “broke musician, need money to finish album.” After a storied 14 days’ worth of busking, gigging, and drawing attention to his Kickstarter campaign, Sweet...
by Gary Carra | Oct 6, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Fans of suds ’n’ sounds will find no shortage of occurrences in which to quench their multi-sensory cravings this weekend. On Saturday, Oct. 10, at the King Phillips Stockade at 1200 West Columbus Ave., in Springfield, Log Cabin/Delaney House and Samuel Adams will...
by Gary Carra | Sep 29, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Bay State quartet Darlingside have become veritable media darlings in their just over half a decade of existence. Their lush, harmony-laden amalgam of indie folk rock garners kudos as steadily and readily as “Dump Trump’’ petition signatures at a Cinco De Mayo party....
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 29, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Film, Leisure, Music, News, Stage
What’s on tap for arts and culture over the next few months in the Pioneer Valley: Party Animals How do you describe The Surrealist Cabaret by the Royal Frog Ballet? You let the frogs do it. From the event’s website, The Surrealist Cabaret “is a walking...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 29, 2015 | Arts, Music, News
Don’t Stop Believin’ in Classical Music The Springfield Symphony Orchestra will kick off the new season on Oct. 3 with an opening night reception at the Springfield Sheraton Hotel. Following the party, the orchestra will perform works by Dvořák, Sibelius, and Bartok....
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 22, 2015 | Arts, Music, News, Scene Here
Bulbs flash. Beats drop. Bass thuds in my ribcage. On the dance floor, bolts of light swirl together in neon colors, and the dancers are a galaxy of iconic sci-fi stars. A tall young man with long hair and a Jedi cloak whips his red double-bladed lightsaber in...
by Gary Carra | Sep 22, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Most folks remember Gary Biardi as a man whose love of the outdoors was rivaled only by his passion for music. This Sunday, Sept. 27, no less than two dozen of the Valley’s most local notables — including Mark Schwaber, Alex Meisner, J.J. O’Connell, and Jeff Turcotte...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 22, 2015 | Arts, Leisure, Music, News
Back to The Big E Life is a little sweeter around Big E time — and it’s not just because the air becomes infused with plumes of powdered sugar. Each year, The Big E in West Springfield brings with it big fun, big stars, and if you’re over 30, big (and completely...
by Amanda Drane | Sep 22, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News
Kalliope Jones’ story about how the local band lost a music competition following a judge’s suggestion the all-female teen band be more “sultry,” was a familiar one to rocker June Millington. She recalls how one review of a gig called her band Fanny “excellent,” but...
by Gary Carra | Sep 14, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
There may be record sunshine outside this September, but inside the area music circuit, the forecast is for winds of change. Not the least of which can be found in Colorway, a fairly new vehicle for the words and music of scene stalwart Alex Johnson. The band will be...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 14, 2015 | Arts, Film, Music, News, Stage
Herencia Latina Pioneer Valley is a celebration of the region’s Latino American heritage. The Pioneer Valley History Network is working in collaboration with Latino organizations, local libraries, museums, and colleges to bring a schedule of programs, activities, and...
by Kristin Palpini | Sep 8, 2015 | Between the Lines, Music, News
Music is like a garden; water it, tend to it, and it will be a blooming beauty that can attract visitors from miles around. But forget to water it, let the weeds take over, and you’re left with a field of crackling, dusty sticks that at best annoy your neighbor. Local...
by Gary Carra | Sep 8, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Dennis Miller has a great line concerning the masses and social media: “Never have lives so less lived been so well chronicled.” While that idea is equal parts funny and true, the first annual Springfield Steampunk Festival was conceived in precisely the inverse...
by Hunter Styles | Sep 8, 2015 | Arts, Music
Albert Cummings Someone Like You (Blind Pig) Singing the blues sends you down a deep well of tradition, and Massachusetts-born roots rocker Albert Cummings dives in headfirst. His effusive and fun-loving seventh album, which barrels down the road packing songs of love...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 8, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News
T housands of votes later, readers have whittled the best bands in the Valley down to four groups that will battle it out for a recording session at Rotary Records in West Springfield, $500 at Falcetti Music of Springfield, and gigs at Falcetti’s new performance space...
by Amanda Drane | Sep 1, 2015 | Arts, Music, News
And The Kids Amourasaurus at the Pines Theatre, Northampton, Aug. 30, 2015 I arrived to a clogged line outside the Pines Theatre at Look Park in Northampton. I would have been restless standing there in the heat if not for the Winterpills’ weepy, wrenching harmonies...
by Amanda
Drane | Sep 1, 2015 | Arts, Leisure, Music, News, Wellness
Sometimes you just gotta dance. No one gets this quite like you, college student. Many more seasoned adults are too tired or they just downright don’t want to be around a bunch of sweaty people anymore. I don’t ever want to grow up and out of my desire to flail in...
by Gary Carra | Sep 1, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Bands and eight balls. How cliche can you get? But egg ball? Do tell, Rubblebucket! “It’s basically a combination of dodgeball and volleyball,” the band explains of their favorite downtime game in the premiere webisode of Pamper The Band. And that’s exactly the type...
by Gary Carra | Aug 25, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Since he’s a lifelong Valley resident — not to mention a veritable scene stalwart — one would think Jeff King would know his way around the area by now. The Crawler caught up with the journeyman musician to inquire about his recent radio appearance, however, and it...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 25, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music
Beach House Aug. 19, 2015 at Pearl Street Nightclub, Northampton A sweat lodge triggers mystical experiences, or so they say. I haven’t tried it, but Pearl Street’s crowded and steamy concert by Beach House last Wednesday got me pretty close. My glasses fogged up upon...
by Kristin Palpini | Aug 25, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News
by Amanda Drane | Aug 19, 2015 | Arts, Music, News, Scene Here
PHOTO CREDIT: DANIELLE DESJARDINS At 9:30 p.m. on a Friday, the crowd at Hinge on Main Street in Northampton is packed like sardines, and the show doesn’t start for another half-hour or so. “Excuse me,” says a woman trying to push past those of us standing in front of...
by Gary Carra | Aug 19, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Music, Nightcrawler
The Apple Jam Roots Music Festival stems from what was once little more than a backyard picnic on a family property. On the back of the sonic spread that accompanied the annual Russell-based shindig, however, Apple has blossomed into a coveted festival stop for many a...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 19, 2015 | Arts, Music
Mac Demarco Another One (Captured Tracks) The shambling, gap-toothed Canadian rocker Mac Demarco makes what some have called “slacker rock,” and although that’s not a genre you see advertised in music stores, one listen to his fourth studio album confirms that...
by Gary Carra | Aug 12, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Several songs into their Aug. 2 Hartford, Connecticut concert, the nu-metal shock rockers of Slipknot had a choice to make. Their bassist, Alessandro “Vman” Venturella, had just collapsed due to an “unknown medical emergency” (later to be diagnosed as severe...
by Gary Carra | Aug 4, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
She married into the first family of jazz, forever linking her to the Big Easy. In recent years, however, Kristin Neville says that she has reconnected with Basketball City U.S.A. And when community leader Evan Plotkin informed her that Springfield’s Hoop City...
by Hunter Styles | Aug 4, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music
Uncle Jerry’s Bands A psychedelic Saturday at the Gathering of the Vibes Fun fact: Bridgeport, Connecticut is the only city in America where Hula-Hoops cause more accidents than cars do. At least, that’s how it is once a year, at the sprawling fiesta in Seaside Park...
by James Heflin | Jul 28, 2015 | Arts, Music, News
Near the back door of Mark Herschler’s Northampton house and studio sits a group of boulders. “I think there might be Native American spirits in there,” Herschler says with a smile. “I think it’s helping with the recording.” Sitting inside, we can hear a commotion...
by Gary Carra | Jul 28, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
From “Knights In White Satin” to Pomeranians with problem foot pads: welcome to a day in the life of Russell Brooks. “I just opened my own dog grooming salon in Northampton,” the music scene stalwart explains, “and I’ve been busier than ever with my life and work. And...
by Jennifer Levesque | Jul 22, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music
Goodbye, Kool Thing Standing inches away from me moaning her iconic voice into the mic for soundcheck stood Kim Gordon. The longtime Northampton resident is bidding farewell to the Pioneer Valley, and she picked the perfect place to say goodbye. On top of the historic...
by Gary Carra | Jul 22, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Music, Nightcrawler
In an industry in more upheaval than the Athens Stock Exchange, Rob “The Leprechaun” Allen’s aluminum anniversary at Lazer 99.3 FM would probably be more accurately accounted for utilizing dog-year calculations. The Crawler recently checked in with the veteran jock....
by Gary Carra | Jul 14, 2015 | Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
The Northampton Summer Concert Series kicks off its freebie Friday shows July 17. And while event producer Jamie Kent notes that he and his Collective Music Group are certainly looking to uphold the established tradition of offering fresh, new acts, he is quick to...
by James Heflin | Jul 14, 2015 | Arts, Music
Moonlapse Conscious (independent) When you hear the name Moonlapse, you may well figure this is an earthy-crunchy folk group. In fact, this New York City one-man project is cashing in on the spacier connotations of that name. Though the music that directly inspires...
by Amanda Drane | Jul 8, 2015 | Arts, Music, Uncategorized
Mikey Sweet The North King (Independent) Mikey Sweet may have grown up in the Valley, but his debut album, The North King, tells us he’s been places. Songs like “Driftwood” illicit images of a boy and his guitar and the road, and song titles like “Oklahoma Wind” show...
by Hunter
Styles | Jul 14, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Leisure, Music, News
How do a city’s business owners create a nightlife that is not only lively, but built to last? The short answer: by dreaming big. Running an entertainment venue takes daily stamina and quick thinking, of course. But it also requires a deeper, grander feeling to fuel...
by Gary Carra | Jul 8, 2015 | Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
You name it, The Reverend Tor Band is celebrating it this weekend — s seventh CD, a first DVD, and then there’s the 20-year milestone of cranking out some of the most consistent groove-oriented rock in the area. “It’s been an amazing journey, and I’m really happy...
by Amanda Drane | Jul 14, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News
I just wanna dance. The itch comes in the form of a restlessness you’d think I could scratch with a good run, but I’ve tried and it doesn’t quite work. The need to dance comes from the soul as much as from the body. It’s like a primordial drive to shake and sway to...
by Hunter Styles | Jul 14, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, News
Julia Child said it best: people who love to eat are always the best people. That’s the springboard for our new occasional series @lunch, in which we sit down for a quick and candid midday meal with interesting locals, ready to chew the fat. For our inaugural lunch we...
by Gary Carra | Jun 30, 2015 | Arts, Columns, Music, Nightcrawler
Others can light up the skies this Independence Day weekend. Big E Talent Buyer John Juliano says he’s hoping to light up the ticket purchase phone lines when he announces a “major country act” who will join his 2015 roster “on or around” July 4. In the meantime,...
by Jack Brown | Jul 8, 2015 | Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Film, Music
Director Asif Kapadia’s 2010 documentary Senna managed to do what many might have considered impossible: it got the art-house crowd interested in the life of a race car driver. Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian driver at the heart of the story, lived to push the envelope —...
by Kristin Palpini | Jun 30, 2015 | Arts, Columns, Leisure, Music, News
Thank you to everyone who nominated a band for the 2015 Grand Band Slam. Below is a list of the top 25 vote-getters. The bands are a good mix of the Valley’s musical scene featuring rock, country, hip-hop, reggae, dub, heavy metal, folk, industrial, and “other.” The...
