Music
Reading His Own CIA File‘Left, Gay & Green’ autobiography a coming-of-age story amid turbulence
Born a red diaper baby in, of all places, Liberty, N.Y., and raised on a hardscrabble poultry farm owned by his American Communist parents, Royalston resident Allen Young’s life as it’s portrayed in his new autobiography, Left, Gay & Green: A Writer’s Life, has...
Valley Show Girl: Soulful Euphoria
Eu·pho·ri·a – noun; a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness. Westfield’s soulful rock quartet, The Screaming Hearts, are in the process of uniquely releasing a collection of songs that will eventually be compiled into an album. Conducting,...
Q&A with Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes: Dealing With a Dismantled Reality
For more than two decades Of Montreal frontman, songwriter, and singer Kevin Barnes, based in Athens, Georgia, has been a musical chameleon; starting out with psychedelic indie pop before moving on to a wide range of other genres such as synth-driven electronic pop...
Basemental: Some Armchair Philosophy on Making Music in 2019
One of the more difficult things about making music is the shape and form of the modern music industry. There are so many reasons why talented bands might develop a loyal and dedicated niche audience and never break through to larger success. At this point in time it...
“Breathing In, Monotypes:” Abstract nature art in layers of ink
At first glance, Doris Madsen’s artwork seems to be a collection of slightly abstract paintings inspired by nature: a frigid island shore, an overhead bird’s eye view of Greenland, the stark Icelandic countryside, and a collection of pitcher plants. But on closer...
Plants of the Bible on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Plants of the Bible are a dream pop duo with synths and rich mellow vocal harmonies. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Plants of the Bible:
Rice: An American Band on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
This week’s Advocate Sessions band is Americana, blues and jamming rock n’ roll band Rice: An American Band. Check out Rice’s performance in the video below. Interview with Rice: An American Band:
Valley Show Girl: Adam Kozak and Music To Die To
Adam Michael Kozak grew up in the ‘80s listening to DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and Aerosmith. When he was a child, his mother played the digital organ they had set up in their living room, which she mainly played Barbara Streisand and Andrew Lloyd Weber show...
The Green Sisters on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
This week’s Advocate Sessions performer are The Green Sisters with their mix of old timey, folk, Celtic, and bluegrass music with lush four part harmonies. Interview with The Green Sisters:
Basemental: So Riffy and Good
Where have all the rock bands gone? Back in June, I wrote about multi-talented guitarist Wendy Eisenberg’s solo album Time Machine. Then she told me that she “just wants to be a good person and make very complicated music.” Still, since then, she’s been hitting the...
Editorial: So Long, Sam’s Pizzeria
Last Saturday night after returning home from The Big Surf Dance, an indoor, 12-hour winter music fest supporting veterans transitioning into housing, at Hawks & Reed in Greenfield, I heard the sad news that Sam’s Pizzeria in Northampton was closing after 12 years...
OroborO on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
OroborO combines experimenatal rock with punk, metal, and mathy riffs. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with OroborO:
Valley Show Girl: A queer punk drag show double rainbow
I’ve been hibernating the past couple of months. I just bought a house and have been focused mainly on that. The closest I’ve been to live music is listening to my vinyl — live — in my living room. I broke out of my hibernation recently, however, and attended my first...
Basemental: Jesus Vio brings his ‘Dutch Science’ to the Pioneer Valley
Free Pizza was a punk band founded in 2009 and based in Boston. If the name isn’t too much of a giveaway, the ethos of the band was playful and goofy. The heavy-hitting upbeat rowdiness was accessible, earnest, and always a good time. In 2016, Free Pizza threw in the...
Orlen, Gabriel, and Avery on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Orlen, Gabriel, and Avery perform folk music with rich vocal harmonies, lap steel slide licks, and ragtime inspired guitar. Check out the group’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Orlen, Gabriel, and Avery:
Olivia Frances on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Olivia Frances is a folk/pop singer-songwriter with environmentalist themes. Check out her Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Olivia Frances:
Come on out to the Back Porch: Back Porch Fest starts Feb. 28
It’s not often that you find a music festival during late winter, let alone a diverse collection of shows across four nights ranging from zydeco to bluegrass, country music, and folk. But Signature Sounds’ annual Back Porch Festival, now in its fifth year, is right at...
Stoner Will & The Narks on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Stoner Will & The Narks play slacker rock with a biting satirical bent. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Stoner Will & The Narks
Valley Show Girl: And The Kids’ Whimsical Indie Rock
Signature Sounds recording artists And The Kids from Northampton have made a name for themselves throughout their active musician years in the Valley. They’ve been locally and nationally covered and very recently had a live set at Paste Magazine that was streamed...
Electrio on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Electrio combines blues rock with progressive rock, funky grooves, and experimental stylings. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Electrio:
Basemental: Mibble Q&A – Hadley’s Mike Parham’s solo project, Mibble
Hadley’s Mike Parham, whose solo moniker is Mibble, recently released a new album, “Welcome the Earth Dog.” Parham’s superb home recordings sound like miniature musical collages, complete with sound effects, samples, and a lackadaisical posture towards the...
Raspberry Jam on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Raspberry Jam plays catchy progressive indie rock that’ll get you on the dance floor. Check out the band’s Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Raspberry Jam:
No Lens on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
No Lens combines reggae rock with acoustic folk and funk grooves. Check out the band’s performance on Valley Advocate Sessions in the video below. Interview with No Lens:
Dicey Riley with Zoe Darrow on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Dicey Riley with Zoe Darrow is a Celtic-folk influenced rock band with virtuoso fiddle and electric bagpipes. Check out the band’s full Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Dicey Riley and Zoe Darrow:
Moving Day on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Moving Day is a an indie rock duo in the spirit of 1960s pop music. Check out the band’s Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Moving Day:
Valley Show Girl: The Gift of Music – A 2018 Local Music Retrospective
The gift that keeps on giving is always the gift of music. You can go all out and get someone you love a new record player with a handful of vinyl for them to christen the needle with. You can pick up a CD or even a cassette, and you can purchase the album online to...
Uncle Brothers on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Uncle Brothers is a a progressive jazz metal band with electric trumpets and heavy distorted guitar riffs. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Uncle Brothers:
Scott Meyers on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Scott Meyers is a mellow folk singer-songwriter with heart and soul. Check out his Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Scott Meyers:
Dirty Words on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Dirty Words is a project that combines soulful poetry with introspective jazz presented by singer-songwriter Cait Simpson (The Greys). Simpson created a special version of her poetry-driven performance for Valley Advocate Sessions, which you can watch in the video...
Ali Kat and the Revelators on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Ali Kat and the Revelators perform rocking funk and soul with sax, guitars, and high energy vocals. Check out the band’s Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Ali Kat and the Revelators:
Josh Pearson on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Josh Pearson plays country, blues, and folk music with a dose of wry songwriting wit. Check out his complete Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Josh Pearson:
Michael Graffius on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Michael Graffius is a performer who plays sweet melancholy folk mixed with poetic indie and punk lyricism. Check out his Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Michael Graffius:
Sunny D & The Tangy Originals on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Sunny D & The Tangy Originals is the solo project of guitarist Tom Del Negro (Lexi Weege & The Wondertwins). Sunny D performs electrified virtuoso looped guitar compositions, blending pre-recorded sounds with intricate soloing. Interview with Sunny...
Lexi Weege & The Wondertwins on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Lexi Weege & The Wondertwins perform hot jazz music with close vocal harmonies with blues roots. Check out the band’s full Valley Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Lexi Weege & The Wondertwins:
Moxie on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage – Our 100th Sessions Video!
Moxie is a soulful teenage indie pop and rock group from Brattleboro, VT, and also our 100th act to be featured on Advocate Sessions. Check out Moxie’s set below alongside an interview with the band and a special 100th Sessions Video Retrospective in which David...
Basemental: Why do we like live music anyway?
There are two reasons I like music. The first is that euphoric feeling you get when you see an amazing band (especially for the first time); the second is I like musicians and their stories. I enjoy compulsively consuming them. Gotta scrape the bottom of the Wikipedia...
Chris James on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Chris James is a folk/pop singer-songwriter with a sweet tenor voice matched by remarkable falsetto. Check out his full Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Chris James:
Scott Cadwallader on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Scott Cadwallader is a folk/country singer-songwriter from Northampton and host of the weekly Thursday Yellow Sofa open mic at the Thirsty Mind. Cadwallader is a prolific songwriter, who has published dozens of his own original songs on YouTube. Check out his Advocate...
Basemental: Landowner’s new release, Blatant, skewers consumerism
Self described “weak hardcore” band Landowner leaves few stones unturned in skewering today’s tattered state of affairs on their August album Blatant. Everything from consumerism and television to insecure men and elite self-congratulation gets a scathing treatment by...
Anjali Rose on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Local singer-songwriter Anjali Rose Kumar performs a melange of indie folk-tinged looped vocals and guitar with a world music perspective. Interview with Anjali Rose:
John-Michael Field on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
John-Michael Field performs spiritually themed folk with a dose of humor. Check out his full Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with John-Michael Field:
Eva Cappelli on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Eva Cappelli is a local songwriting queen who plays everything from blues and country to jazz and rock. Check out her Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Eva Cappelli:
Basemental: Pussyvision Debuts Self-Release, Replicate
Two years ago when I wrote a profile about Finley Janes’ project Pussyvision, the project was just getting started. A year prior, Janes wasn’t making music—yet. Pussyvision had yet to go on multiple tours, one of which took Janes as far as Mexico, and produce, record...
Riley Godleski on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Riley Godleski is a local singer-songwriter who perfroms indie pop mixed with bittersweet melodies and melancholy alternative folk. Interview with Riley Godleski:
Austin & Elliott on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Austin & Elliott are an acoustic folk duo who write ballads about love and death. Check out their complete Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Austin & Elliott:
Basemental: The swampy grunge anthems of Owen Manure
Western Massachusetts is known for its rich lineage of foundational bands that have defined underground music from different eras. Of course Dinosaur Jr. comes to mind, not to mention Pixies. While the shadow of bands like that certainly looms large (“omg, Murph just...
Mike Spector on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Mike Spector is a local singer-songwriter who writes soulful folk ballads about love and heartache. Check out his complete Advocate Sessions performance in the video below. Interview with Mike Spector:
VIDEO: Mike Spector on Valley Advocate Sessions Friday
Check out a teaser video of this week’s Advocate Sessions performer – soulful folk singer-songwriter Mike Spector. His full Valley Advocate Sessions video and interview will be released this Friday.
Pick of the Day 8/29: Betty: They Say I’m Different
Betty Davis was more than just Miles Davis’ wife; she was a funky musical force who was a head of her time when it came to demanding control over her image and her recordings. In the early 1980s Betty disappeared from public life. In 2012 filmmakers discovered...
Pick of the Day 8/28: Mama Caught Fire, Kimaya Diggs, and Emma June at the Iron Horse
Minneapolis trio Mama Caught Fire heads a line up of girl power tonight! Kimaya Diggs and Emma June complete the trifecta. Iron Horse Music Hall, 10 Center St.,...
Pick of the Day 8/25: BSO celebrates Bernstein Centennial at Tanglewood
The great conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein would be 100 this year! Happy birthday, Maestro! Celebrate with the BSO at Tanglewood tonight. 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the Shed. 297 West St., Lenox.
Pick of the Day 8/24: RPM
Three days of metal, punk, and rock? Could it be? Yes! And it happening NOW!! RPM Fest is New England’s biggest heavy music and camping festival, featuring 50 bands including Black Tusk, Tombs, Whores, Acid Witch, Child Bite, INCITE, Against the Grain,...
Wendy Eisenberg on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
Wendy Eisenberg is a virtuoso guitarist who combines experimental songwriting with jazz and indie folk. Check out her full performance in the video below. Interview with Wendy Eisenberg:Pick of the Day 8/23: Dick Dale
“King of the Surf Guitar” Dick Dale is at the Iron Horse tonight. Dale “pretty much invented the style single-handedly.” Just think of Pulp Fiction’s reintroduction to “Misirlou.” He’s the precursor to Jimi Hendrix and...
Pick of the Day 8/22: Louise Dunphy’s “Celtic Crossing” at the Iron Horse
Louis Dunphy’s Celtic Crossings began in 2005 as a LIVE radio program on WMUA 91.1fm Amherst and now airs every Sunday morning @ 7am on The River. The show focuses on Celtic music and often hosts nationally and internationally recognized performers with live...
Pick of the Day 8/21: Transperformance 28: Amperbands
Celebrate community and the arts with Transperformance 28: AmperBands! Featuring Colorway as Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Soul Magnets as Sly & the Family Stone, Fancy Trash as Paul McCartney & Wings, King Radio as Simon & Garfunkel, Eric Olsson and...
Pick of the Day 8/20: Michelle Malone at the Iron Horse
The New York Times says Michelle Malone is “the kind of singer and songwriter who can jolt things into overdrive.” She’s been on the scene for decades and she’s collaborated with artists like Steve Earle Malone, the late Gregg Allman, ZZ Top,...
The True Jacqueline on the Valley Advocate Sessions Stage
The True Jacqueline are an art rock/ noise pop band from Northampton. Check out the band’s complete Advocate Sessions performance. Interview with the True Jacqueline:
Pick of the Day 8/19: Runa at the Iron Horse
Quickly gaining recognition as one of Irish music’s new “super-groups,” Runa prides itself on pushing the boundaries of Irish folk music by merging it with the Americana and roots music formats. There’s a taste of Ireland and Scotland mixed with jazz,...E-Edition
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