From manager to owner: Turn It Up! music store founders sell business to longtime employee
By Erin-Leigh Hoffman For the Valley Advocate As Turn It Up! approaches its 30th anniversary, the music store is falling into the hands of a new, but not unfamiliar, owner. Founders Patrick Pezzati and Chandra Hancock are selling the business, which has locations in...
Dancing with yourself: Madelyn Farr’s class empowers sensuality, self-expression in older adults
By CAROLYN BROWN For the Advocate When daily life seems to be speeding up, who wouldn’t love to learn “how to embrace the nuances of our experience, the beautiful and the ugly, with grace and reverence?” Or share a “cathartic experience of transcendence” in a safe and...
Earth Matters: What, who lies beneath the dog park: Exploring Northampton’s Cemetery Hill, its legacy
By Allie Martineau and Brianna McCormickFor the Valley Advocate At the unofficial Northampton dog park on Burts Pit Road, tiny rocks trickle down the steep walking trail, followed by dogs of all sizes panting their way into the forest. As the trail levels out, the...
Magical gatherings: Welcome to The Realms, a medieval live action role-playing game held throughout New England
By EMILEE KLEIN For the Valley Advocate Ken Crowley, Kaitlin Haslam and Ally Crowley are just like any other Granby family. But when they cross a wooden bridge by a willow tree somewhere in the town’s forest, suddenly, Ken, Kaitlin and Ally are no longer. But on this...
New dispensary brings unique outlet model: Oz Club is Easthampton’s fifth cannabis shop
By Sam Ferland For the Valley Advocate The Oz (pronounced ounce) Club is the newest cannabis dispensary in Easthampton, a new branch from two owners who are already familiar with the cannabis industry. The dispensary located at 17 East St. not far from Route 5 has...
Brutalism’s legacy looms large: With Trump calling for return to classical federal architecture, concrete campus landmarks highlight beauty, function
By Samuel Gelinas For the Valley Advocate Love him or hate him, Donald Trump has a point: brutalism is “unpopular.” Last month the president and former luxury real estate developer issued an executive order calling for future federal buildings to steer clear of...
Monte Belmonte Wines: Everything you ever wanted to know about cork taint: To wine snobs, cork taint smells like wet newspaper
By Monte Belmonte For the Valley Advocate Cork taint! It’s just fun to say. But when it comes to drinking wine, it is a less fun experience. When casual wine drinkers think of wine “going bad,” they often talk about it turning to vinegar. If wine is way too old or...
Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: Berkshires close an outstanding theatrical season: Signs of rich regional productions ahead
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate While the Berkshire Theatre Critics’ Association will be doling out the “Berkies” for outstanding performances and productions early next month, three of the major Berkshire theater anchors are concluding the 2025 summer season...
Mixtape: ‘Let the Good Times Roll’: Eddie Japan with Greg Hawkes, playing the music of The Cars
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate There are some bands whose music stand the test of time. Whether it’s their toe-tapping melodies or poignant lyrics, some songs always resonate with new audiences. In the late ’70s when rock and pop music were getting a...
Painting into the depths of motherhood: ‘How to Bear the Unbearable Body: The Artwork of Emily Orling’ is at the A.P.E. Gallery through Nov. 1
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer A colorful exhibition of surrealist artworks layered with personal and cultural symbolism, “How to Bear the Unbearable Body: The Artwork of Emily Orling,” is up at the A.P.E. Gallery in Northampton through Saturday, Nov. 1. Though the...
You are what you ink: UMass exhibition blurs lines between art, tattoos, and identity
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer It’s not often that you see tattoo art on display in an art gallery, but a University of Massachusetts alum will soon change that with an upcoming exhibition. Alex Leon Sherker’s art show “Who Are You? Who Am AI?” will be at the Augusta...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!
O Cannabis: Local cannabis start-up Treeworks aims to have something for everyone
“We want to be something for everyone and want to bring people who are not traditional consumers into the mix,” he said.
Sci-fi or not so far-fetched?: New opera ‘The Onion’ explores the power and perils of AI-driven memory retrieval
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer If you could exist inside any memory from your past as it happened around you, would you? The new opera “The Onion,” about an eponymous AI device that can bring back memories in an immersive way, will premiere at Amherst College’s Holden...
The V-Spot: How Do I Successfully Quarantine with My S.O.?
Crisis or not, you are not a needs fulfillment center. Similarly, just because your crisis mode is packaged as “everyday functional,” doesn’t mean that you yourself are not struggling with all that’s happening.
The Alternative Pioneers: Founders spill the tea as the Valley Advocate turns 50
By BOB FLAHERTY For the Advocate If it was just that hippie rag, as detractors liked to rank it, well we hippie ragamuffins devoured it front to back. It spoke our language, the F-laden part included, and it was as underground as the music we toked to. But we soon...
The Beerhunter: Black Rabbit Farm Adds Wild Ales, Grows Ingredients On Site
As far as this Beerhunter can surmise, Black Rabbit is the only brewery on an active commercial farm in all of Western Mass.
Stagestruck: Love and War
“Jack Absolute Flies Again” is this year’s blockbuster comedy from the National Theatre. Set in the Battle of Britain, it’s coming to the Amherst Cinema via NT Live.
