Statement pieces: Gallery A3 in Amherst hosts juried show to foster unity through art
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Painter Robert Rauschenberg once said, “The artist’s job is to be a witness to his time in history.” A new juried art show in Amherst wants to bear witness to the current political moment by promoting unity. Gallery A3 in Amherst will...
Monte Belmonte Wines: What will Trump’s tariffs mean for wine prices? Local experts voice predictions, as tariffs continue to be a moving target
By Monte Belmonte For the Valley Advocate "Godspeed, everyone. May your supplier discounts be generous, and may wine on the water be saved by the powers that be.” It was a striking quote on a Facebook Group that I follow called the US Wine Trade Alliance. I initially...
Resonating through generations: Lady Pills releases new concept album, ‘Renowned in the Roaring Twenties’
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer A recording artist is connecting her family’s western Massachusetts roots to her new album. Lady Pills, the solo indie pop/alt-rock project of multi-instrumentalist Ella Boissonnault, released the album “Renowned in the Roaring Twenties”...
The ills of a billion-dollar enterprise: The slow-death of the cannabis industry, and what might be done to reverse the trend
By Gabriel O’Hara Salini For the Valley Advocate The Massachusetts cannabis industry is a billion-dollar enterprise, with over 700 retailers operating across the state. Yet stores are closing, companies are firing their workers and retail and non-retail licenses are...
Reel talent: Easthampton Film Festival returns for fourth year, May 1-4
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Easthampton Film Festival will return for its fourth year from Thursday, May 1, through Sunday, May 4, bringing with it a slate of movies that were created, in large part, by local filmmakers. This year’s lineup includes a screening of...
‘We’re here! We’re queer! We’re ready to cheer!’: New queerleading team hopes to perform at queer sporting events in the Valley
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer A new group of “queerleaders” in Northampton wants to lift up the LGBTQ community — in more ways than one. On Sunday, a group of about 20 people gathered at Veterans Field in Northampton to set up a new team of queer cheerleaders who...
Here to help the community’s artists: Human Scale Art Space aims to advance visual arts in the Pioneer Valley
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer It’s not uncommon for a small nonprofit not to have a physical space. It is, however, ironic when that nonprofit itself is called Human Scale Art Space. The Northampton-based organization Human Scale Art Space aims to advance visual arts,...
Amherst can’t decide where it is: Is town center uptown or downtown?
By SCOTT MERZBACH Staff Writer Those attending a recent ribbon-cutting for the new UMass Downtown retail store and event space in Amherst center were invited to an afterparty at the Uptown Tap & Grille, which despite having a seemingly different geographical...
Women’s history told through clothing: Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club to host ‘Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore’ author, April 9
By MADISON SCHOFIELD Staff Writer The Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club is celebrating its 100th birthday this spring, and will kick off its centennial speaker series with a talk on the history of women’s clothing with Northampton author Kiki Smith on April 9 at the...
‘His notes will linger forever’: Remembering Young@Heart accordionist and Springfield College professor Chris Haynes
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Chris Haynes, longtime accordionist for the Young@Heart Chorus and associate professor emeritus of music at Springfield College, died on Wednesday, March 12. “Chris was somebody who really cared about people, really made sure they were...
Macbeth, up close and personal: Second annual Montague Shakespeare Festival puts a new spin on the ‘psychological dark power drama’
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer By the pricking of my thumbs, “Macbeth” to Franklin County comes! Montague Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Macbeth” will run the weekends of March 28 to 30 and April 4 to 6 at Shea Theater in Turners Falls. The famous Shakespeare...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!
So … Is Pot Legal or Not in Massachusetts?
The blossoming legal Massachusetts marijuana industry is being affected by all of this uncertainty.
Rock for all: Whole Children’s resident Friendship Band to perform alongside indie rockers Yo La Tengo at 20th anniversary concert, The Bash, Oct. 23
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer The Northampton organization Whole Children, which serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with indie rock band Yo La Tengo at 33 Hawley on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m. At...
The V-Spot: How To Kiss With Consent
As with sex in general, with kissing, too, the Traditional Mood as staged by movies, mainstream, porn, social expectations, and the folklore of gossip actually does many of us a disservice in the consent department.
Staff Picks: Wet’suwet’en Nation fundraiser, Wishbone Zoë, Shelter Me: In Times of Need, and a Sherlock Holmes mystery
A fundraiser at Majestic Saloon for the Wet’suwet’en Nation, an indigenous group in the British Columbia region; experimentalist songwriter Wishbone Zoë is set to release her third album, French of the Bird; “Shelter Me: In Times of Need,” by Hadley native Steve Latham, is airing on WGBY-TV; a dramatic reading of Sherlock Holmes at the Hooker-Dunham Theater.
The Beerhunter’s guide to the 2018 Western Mass Beer Week
These days are packed, so plan wisely, and consume responsibly.
Stagestruck: Hot-Weather Hits
After shutting down two years ago, then edging back with skeleton seasons last year, theaters in the region are back at full capacity this summer. Here are some of the shows I’m looking forward to seeing up and down the Valley.
