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...
Life’s a drag!: A day in the life of producer and queen, Magnolia Masquerade
By Hannah Bevis For the Valley Advocate On most days, Andrew Curran, better known as his drag persona Magnolia Masquerade, is a whirlwind of activity, brainstorming ideas for future shows, creating the props that will bring them to life, running the rehearsals with...
Brutal? No, beautiful: Holyoke artist Michael Karmody has found beauty — and a decent living — in concrete creations
By Samuel Gelinas Staff Writer Artist Michael Karmody knows a hard truth about concrete — that it is often associated with sidewalks and jails, not attractive things. But, serious question. What does concrete actually look like? For Karmody, the only serious answer...
Monte Belmonte Wines: What’s going on at Table & Vine in West Springfield?: Something fishy is afoot at the Big Y’s flagship location for fine wine
By Monte Belmonte For the Valley Advocate What is going on at Table & Vine in West Springfield? Given that you are reading a wine column, I assume you partake of the grape. Then you probably know that Table & Vine is the wines, beer and spirits branch of the...
Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: Audience participation required: Three plays raise questions around moral integrity and point of view
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate Plays about difficult subjects, like the consequences of personal actions, politics, and social change, require more of the audience in terms of asking them to consider how their own sense of morality and moral integrity...
Mixtape: New heavy music to initiate summer: Reviewing Warm’s ‘Fastidium’ and TueTewsday’s ‘Shoulda Been Larz’
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate Warm “Fastidium” The moment I pressed play on this album, I couldn’t stop listening to it. At home, mid-chore, I just sat there in a trance-like state until the last track ended. “Fastidium” is the latest release from local...
‘I’ve met friends in my books’: Eric Carle Museum celebrates author, illustrator Grace Lin with retrospective exhibition
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Florence-based author and illustrator Grace Lin is known for books like “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” (for which she received a Newbery Honor in 2010), “The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon,” “The Ugly Vegetables,” and “A Big Mooncake...
A food fest to feel good about: Inaugural Western Mass Vegan Food Fest is this Sunday
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer A new vegan food festival is about to take root in the Pioneer Valley. The inaugural Western Mass Vegan Food Fest will be at Abandoned Building Brewery in Easthampton on Sunday, June 15, from noon to 5 p.m. The vendor lineup includes...
Catharsis meets comedy: ‘Customers From Hell’ show will premiere at the Shea Theater on Sunday, June 15
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Most people who have worked retail and food service jobs have dealt with customers who were rude, annoying, or just plain strange. A new comedy TV series written and filmed in the Pioneer Valley wants to answer the question: what if those...
Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: ‘I just let them grow’: Inside one of the six gardens on this year’s Northampton Garden Tour
By MICKEY RATHBUN For the Valley Advocate John Smith likes it when people stop outside his house, a lovely Carpenter Gothic on a quiet street in Florence, to peek at his garden through the fence. “I tell them, ‘Come on in and have a look around,’” he said. On June 14,...
Holyoke hosts inaugural Paper Festival: Crafts, exhibitions, tours, contests and more in the ‘Paper City’ this Saturday
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Holyoke was known for its thriving paper industry – that’s how it got the nickname “Paper City.” Now, over a century later, the city will celebrate the legacy and impact that paper production had on the...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!
O Cannabis: Questions at Greenfield Cannabis Control Commission Meeting Run the Gamut
Local cannabis enthusiasts want to prevent the ‘Walmartization’ of the industry.
Artwork from the ashes: Heather Maloney’s new album, ‘Exploding Star,’ was almost too personal to share
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Heather Maloney almost didn’t release her upcoming album, “Exploding Star,” to the public. An album born of grief and loss was too raw, too personal, to go public, she felt, so she kept it for herself. But when her closest friends and...
The V-Spot: How do I have a good threesome?
Talk with your partner and third about what everyone’s “fuck yes”s, “no way”s, and “I might consider it”s are. Discuss how you want to switch things up or end things if something isn’t going well during — it’s important to create space for everyone involved to change their minds or adjust things if something needs to change.
Best Bites: All aboard the gummy express: Testing Northampton’s edible varieties
By ROBIN GOLDSTEIN For the Advocate I don’t know anything about weed gummies. I warned my editors about this. They shrugged and reminded me that I was a food columnist, so gummies were my territory. I nodded slowly. My gummy quest began with an educational visit to a...
The Beerhunter: Invisible Flavors
Many brewers rely on websites, blogs, and social media to follow the latest craft beer trends. But lately Christophe Gagné, the bearded Vermont dweller who runs Hermit Thrush Brewing, seems more interested in following deer.
Stagestruck: Once, Upon a Stage
“Once,” the 2011 musical based on the 2007 film, calls for 13 performers who can sing, act and play an instrument, all of them to a high standard, plus do a passable Irish or Czech accent. Berkshire Theatre Group’s production pretty much checks all those boxes, with delightful results.
