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...
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: Time to Get Growing
“I grew up in Charlemont,” Wilder Sparks said. “We know that people like (cannabis) around here, and you hate to see people you know spending money on something that they have the skills to do themselves and now they’re allowed to do it.”
‘If you can hit one note and hit it hard’: Western Mass Sacred Harp singers ready for biggest annual event
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer On Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9, the Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Community (WMSHC) will host their biggest annual event, the Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Convention, at Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity in Florence...
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: Hawthorn, KidsBestFest, Ruth Garbus, and a staged Smith play reading
Lively folk music at the Shea Theater; a children’s art series at the Academy of Music; a mix of experimental folk and alternative solo artists at Ten Forward in Greenfield; a reading of a new play by Smith MFA student Mary Beth Brooker.
The Beerhunter Abroad: Norway – Despite strict alcohol laws, a new generation of craft brewers is born
“You still visit many bars in Norway today that carry only one kind of beer, and it’s yellow and fizzy,” he says. “Your average guy would walk into a pub and just say: ‘beer.’ When there’s nothing to choose from, nobody asks.”
Stagestruck: Annotated Austen
“Pride@Prejudice” (that’s @, not &) is a cyber-take on Jane Austen’s novel, a condensed rendering of her classic dissection of manners and morals, now playing at Chester Theatre Company. But it’s also inlaid with questions and comments mined from Internet chat rooms as students assigned the book in English class reach out for help in navigating the shifting currents of plot and personnel.
