Newsletter
by Chris Goudreau | May 1, 2017 | Articles, Music, Newsletter
The blues has always been about addressing heartbreak and strife going back to 1930s Depression-era America. Northampton-based indie garage rock blues duo Old Flame seem to share that sentiment for today’s world. The band’s debut seven-song EP, Wolf in the Heather,...
by Chris Rohmann | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Film, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
Back in the day — way, way back — live radio drama was a staple of the airwaves. As script-toting actors gathered around microphones, their dialogue was peppered with live sound effects, backed by a live band and punctuated with live commercial breaks, often with a...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 25, 2017 | Articles, Get Out With Staff Picks, Newsletter
Upper Valley Music Festival – Saturday, April 29 My wife is going to be participating in an all-day yoga event Saturday, leaving me with our 3-month-old. What better way to entertain the little guy than 12 hours of live music in Greenfield with dozens of acts on...
by Jack Brown | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Film, Newsletter
While the idea of a “mockumentary” now seems almost old-hat, in 1984 director Rob Reiner gave birth to the zany medium. His ridiculously entertaining satire about life on the road with aging, British metal band Spinal Tap during their American comeback tour was mostly...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Nice Pot! Flowers are blooming on the trees, the sun is shining, and asparagus are being planted in the Valley, which means it’s time for the annual springtime Asparagus Valley Potter Trail. Every year the self-guided tour takes place across nine pottery studios in...
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 26, 2017 | Articles, Music, Newsletter
Nice photo ^^ Nice video vv Can’t wait for more Sessions? Head over to the Sessions page and listen to more of the best local bands you might not have heard of – and a couple you probably have.
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
For writer Elinam Agbo, words are like air.“If I go too long without expressing my thoughts in one way or another, I begin to feel suffocated and distant from my memories as well as my lived moments,” said Agbo, this year’s winner of the Valley Advocate’s Juniper...
by Will Meyer | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Basemental, Columns, Newsletter
Editor’s note: Bella Ortia-Wren uses they/their pronouns. Bella Ortia-Wren, who goes by just “Bella” on stage, plays a blue Fender Mustang, a small-bodied guitar with single coil pickups, that sounds shimmery and crisp through a few hot-tempered distortion boxes....
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
The first thing you need to know about Krakatoa Picnic is that the imagery in this book of poems, by James Heflin, will sear you to the side of the Indonesian volcano.The collection of sci-fi-influenced prose is vivid in its tactile descriptions of place, people, and...
by Connolly Ryan | Apr 24, 2017 | Articles, Arts, News, Newsletter
Earth First & LastLike children in summertime, our planet thrives on vivid evidence that there is always something to be. Unlike fools who amass acres by way of massacres, nature plants herself in one area and creates worlds around her. Earth itself...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 19, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
Democrat and political newcomer Jon Ossoff failed to capture Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District in the first round. But Tuesday’s special election results may give Democrats across the country hopes of recapturing the House in 2018 and thwarting the...
by Chuck Shepherd | Apr 17, 2017 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
If at first you don’t succeed… Samuel West announced in April that his Museum of Failure will open in Helsingborg, Sweden, in June, to commemorate innovation missteps that might serve as inspiration for future successes. Among the initial exhibits:...
by Jennifer Levesque | Apr 17, 2017 | Columns, Featured, Music, News, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
After a full day of sitting inside a dankly weed-scented office — we did a photo shoot of some nuggets for this 4/20 issue — my first thought walking into The Root Cellar in Greenfield for an experimental show is “damn this place smells good” … and familiar. I’m...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 18, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
It was a terrible way to start the New Year. Three people died and nearly 50 were displaced as a fire consumed the five-story building at 106 North East Street on January 1, 2017. Looking for a quick way to respond, the City of Holyoke has expanded its federally...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 18, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
From the outside, 5 Appleton St. in Holyoke looks like any number of towering, brick artifacts from a time when Holyoke earned its unofficial title “The Paper City.” But looks can be deceiving. New life is being breathed into the 200,000 square-foot facility and...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 17, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
A chemical weapons attack in Syria, a missile strike from the United States and worsening relations with Russia have made this month a serious pivot point in the protracted Syrian conflict. Is this the moment future historians will identify as the start to a new Cold...
by Lena Wilson | Apr 18, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Film, Newsletter, Stream Queen
It’s 4/20, and whether you consider today a national holiday or just a chance to gather some friends and smoke, you’ll probably end up watching something. Thankfully, now that it’s no longer the ’70s, stoners can open Netflix or YouTube and watch something unique and...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 18, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot
Over the past year, I’ve thought a lot about my sexuality. Recently, I came across the term “heteroflexible” and immediately, I felt like I identified with it more than any other sexual orientation I previously knew about. However, I continue to feel invalidated by my...
by Jack Brown | Apr 18, 2017 | Articles, Cinemadope, Columns, Newsletter
TED talks — the bite-sized presentations given at the organization’s annual Technology, Education, and Design conference — have become an oddly popular cultural phenomenon. At once elitist and public-spirited (a standard conference membership will run you 10 grand,...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 17, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Hot Haikus In response to our call on our Facebook page “It is in the 80s today. Someone write a haiku about the weather in the comments”, here’s a few entries from the community: Massachusetts spring No rhyme or reason to it Roller coaster ride — Frank Giuliano Hot...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 16, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
Dr. Jill Stein, activist and third party presidential candidate extraordinaire, will speak at Smith College on Wednesday, April 19. The talk will take place from 7 to 9 at the Weinstein Auditorium and is free and open to the public. Stein was the Green-Rainbow Party...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 14, 2017 | Articles, Blogs, News, Newsletter
I had never read Noam Chomsky before or seen him speak, but I’d definitely heard about him over the years. Most recently when watching the movie “Captain Fantastic,” when the main characters — a super smart, back-to-the-land family — all celebrate “Chomsky...
by Chance Viles | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Machakos is a city and county in Kenya. It’s a beautiful place. The large palms, and safari grass are strong and bright, the blue sky dominates the flat and open landscape. But the beauty of Machakos can be deceiving: poverty is a struggle many people face. Because...
by Chuck Shepherd | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
Recently, in Dubai — the largest city in the United Arab Emirates — Dubai Civil Defense started using water jetpacks that lift firefighters off the ground to hover in advantageous positions as they work the hoses. Also, using jet skis, rescuers can avoid traffic...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Our Lady Laverne Laverne Cox grew up in Mobile, Alabama, raised by a single mother in a Christian family. Back then, it wasn’t at all clear that she would end up attending college in New York City and pursuing a career as an actress, let alone that she would become...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
Close to Noam Leftist hero Noam Chomsky, now 88, has been around the block a few times, picking up new fields of expertise like normal people pick up groceries. He’s a world-renowned linguist, philosopher, author, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic,...
by Dave Eisenstadter | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, News, Newsletter
Thanks to Republican dirty tricks, Trump-nominee Neil Gorsuch has been confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice. But a little-known political maneuver from the 1930s might be the Democrat’s ticket to wresting back Court control. Gorsuch will be seated on the court with 54...
by Compiled By Kristin Palpiniillustration By Catherine Gibbs | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Food Booze and Beyond, Missed Connections, Newsletter
If you’ve never checked out Craigslist’s Missed Connection forum, you really should. The following is a samples from the Western Mass forum. Post dates have been added. RR Restaurant 3/26 — m4w (Spfld) You are soooo attractive! We exchanged glances multiple times. I...
by Naila Moreira | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Down to Earth, News, Newsletter
We tell stories to know who we are. Speaking our own stories, we rediscover ourselves. And by hearing and identifying with one another’s journeys, we discover and reach each other, too. My world — my story — is one of science. I birdwatch. I teach students how to...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Film, Leisure, Music, Newsletter, Stage
Tweet Puppets for the People From its founding in New York’s Lower East Side in 1963 to its decades-long residence in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, Bread & Puppet Theater remains one of the country’s most inventive and internationally recognized performing...
by Lena Wilson | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Film, Newsletter, Stream Queen
In our world of studio filmmaking driven by franchises and sequels, creators looking to develop original ideas are often restricted to independent production. While indie filmmaking means working on a shoestring budget, it also often means the cast and crew are...
by Jennifer Levesque | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Columns, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Valley Show Girl
A Woman Alive As I walked into Gateway City Arts in Holyoke for the first time, I came to a dead stop to admire the factory-style architecture. The ceilings are very high, with a huge industrial ceiling fan staring down. The large stage was lit up awaiting performers,...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter, Stage
War and Music Playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes has jumped onto our cultural radar many times over the years — she received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Water by the Spoonful, and she wrote the book for the musical In The Heights alongside future...
by Advocate Staff | Apr 10, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Stay Home From School Better questions for the article (“Breaking the School to Prison Pipeline: Springfield reduces in-school arrests, but is it enough?”, March 30-April 5, 2017) would have been: Why were the students arrested? Did anyone do the same thing and were...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
Dynamic Duo Easthampton City Arts+ kicks off the third annual Easthampton Book Fest with the first installment of the new Grist for the Mill speaker series, with inaugural guests Michael Musto (a longtime writer at The Village Voice) and Mickey Boardman, the editorial...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
The Tribe That Quests In recent years, ensemble theater group Children of the Wild has managed something nifty: the full integration of the musical band dynamic into their touring acts. Music and theater fused completely in the show The Wastelands, an original...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
One of the Greats New Orleans native Terence Blanchard has become one of America’s most respected jazz musicians, working as a trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, and film score composer. He was an integral figure in the 1980s jazz resurgence, and his trumpet...
by Hunter Styles | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
History Hangs Overhead If you’re looking to get out this week and into an immersive installation inspired by Islamic architecture — we’ve got just the local exhibit for you (actually, it’s the only one). Soo Sunny Park created ”Luminous Muqarna” for the Islamic Arts...
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
No one knows how many timber rattlesnakes there are in Massachusetts — and this is a sticking point for opponents of a plan to boost the endangered species population.Does this species of venomous snakes really need saving? Over the past few years, state scientists...
by Kristin Palpini | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, News, Newsletter
The word “shrill” makes some people want to instinctively cover their ears, but Lindy West decided to make it the title to her 2016 book Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman. The self-identified fat feminist will be reading from her book Saturday, 7 p.m., at the Hooker...
by Chris Goudreau | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Featured, Newsletter, Wellness
Every year billions of ticks creep through wooded areas across Massachusetts and New England, feeding vampirically off the blood of wildlife, pets, and humans. With ticks comes the most obvious fear: Lyme disease. But how much of what seems like common knowledge about...
by Chuck Shepherd | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
China’s public-park restrooms have for years suffered toilet-paper theft by local residents who raid dispensers for their own homes — a cultural habit, wrote Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, expressing taxpayer feelings of “owning” public facilities — but the...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Newsletter, The V-Spot, Wellness
I have a few questions about monogamy. I guess, part of it stemming from a recent post I saw on your Instagram — @the_vspot — about “The Relationship Escalator,” polyamory, and monogamy. In my last partnership, my partner and I were very intentional about not falling...
by Warren Johnston | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Food Booze and Beyond, Newsletter, The Pour Man
Les Hauts de Lagarde, Rouge Bordeaux, France; 2015. $12.99This is a period of transition on many fronts. There still may be snow on the ground and temperatures in the teens, but the warm spring sun is a clear signal that it’s time to start trimming down, putting...
by Rob Breszney | Apr 3, 2017 | Articles, Astrology, Newsletter, Wellness
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Be interested in first things, Aries. Cultivate your attraction to beginnings. Align yourself with uprisings and breakthroughs. Find out what’s about to hatch, and lend your support. Give your generous attention to potent innocence and novel...
by Jack Brown | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Cinemadope, Columns, Featured, Film, Newsletter
Hurt Feelings A few weeks back I found myself with a rare night off — the kids asleep early, the house somehow clean, the bills already paid. I was scrolling through my various Netflix queues when a familiar title popped up: V for Vendetta, the Wachowskis’ 2005...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Film, Music, Newsletter
The World in Frame Since opening its historic church doors in 2011, Next Stage Arts Project has been working to bring world-class events into the small town of Putney, Vermont (just north of Brattleboro). Never has that mission been more clear than with the group’s...
by Chris Rohmann | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Newsletter, Stage, Stagestruck
WAM Theatre exists on two levels: to produce work that foregrounds women playwrights and performers, and to tangibly support, with a portion of ticket sales, organizations that work to better the lives of women and girls. Emilie: La Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Music, Newsletter
Smile! (Or Don’t) Artist, photographer, and punk for the ages Cynthia Connolly made a name for herself in one fell swoop when she published Banned in DC: Photos and Anecdotes from the D.C. Punk Underground (79-85). That scrappy yearbook-style achievement snuck into...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Newsletter
You’re Wearing That? In her new exhibit, Jodi Colella engages with headwear and daguerreotypes from the collection of the Historic Northampton Museum and responds to forces that have shaped women’s identities since the 18th century. “Headwear has long played a role in...
by Will Meyer | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Basemental, Columns, Music, Newsletter
How a fictional psychdrone collective from Berlin took form in Greenfield In 2015, a real writer and real College of the Atlantic professor named Daniel Mahoney published a real book called Sunblind Almost Motorcrash. In it, he wrote fictional reviews of imaginary...
by Hunter Styles | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
Guitar Around the World To hear NPR tell it, musician Jason Vieaux is “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation.” Vieaux’s album Play won the 2015 Grammy award for best classical instrumental solo, and he has played in hundreds of...
by Azrael Viles | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Arts, Music, Newsletter
More often than not, the hustle and bustle around me is white noise. Throughout the day I hear a cacophonous array of sounds from outside: cars, dogs, the wind, the mailman, humans in general, and even other cats. I stare out the window for most hours of the day, my...
by Steven Johnson | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
COLUMBUS, Indiana — While Vice President Pence’s gubernatorial career earned national controversy, his hometown and closest friends vouch for his character. Columbus, Indiana, fits the image he presents: practical, family-oriented, and subject to change over the...
by Chris Goudreau | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Featured, News, Newsletter
You’re a teenager in high school. You’ve been texting on your smartphone when you shouldn’t be or otherwise refusing to listen to your teacher. You think you’ll probably get berated, maybe detention, but never thought you’d be handcuffed and taken into police custody....
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Between the Lines, Featured, News, Newsletter
Is Boston a racist city? If you’ve been watching Saturday Night Live lately, you probably caught “Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che give Boston that dubious title.Prior to the Super Bowl clash between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots, Che...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Columns, Featured, Food Booze and Beyond, News, Newsletter, O Cannabis!
Now that marijuana is legal, the perception of the drug is changing. We’re on the road of cannabis no longer being thought of as some seedy contraband in a sandwich bag tossed through a car window to potheads, but a varied, quality — and dare I say, refined —...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, News, News of the Weird, Newsletter
A highlight of the recent upmarket surge in Brooklyn, New York, as a residential and retail favorite, was the asking price for an ordinary parking space in the garage at 845 Union St. in the Park Slope neighborhood: $300,000 — also carrying a $240-a-month condominium...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Columns, News, Newsletter, The V-Spot, Wellness
My boyfriend and I have been together for two years and we’re best friends. Mutual respect exists in almost every way between us. Sometimes, however, the sex feels, well, sexist. First, he enjoys watching porn together, but I really don’t. However, he always tries to...
by From Our Readers | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, Letters from our Readers, News, Newsletter
Tell it Like it IsEditor’s Note: This comment is in response to “Cinemadope: In Plain Site: Stories from overlooked worlds,” March 9-15, 2017, and the author’s statement, “Over the last few months, it has become impossible to ignore the rising tides of xenophobia,...
