Arrive hungry: Taste of Northampton expands to two days, Sept. 13 and 14
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Foodies, rejoice: Taste of Northampton is almost here again — and it’s even bigger than last year. The food festival Taste of Northampton will return this year on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 14, from 11...
‘Space is the place’: Sun Ra Arkestra plays the Academy of Music, May 18
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Legendary Afrofuturist bandleader, composer, and musician Sun Ra had an eye on the cosmos. Though he passed away in 1993, the members of his 13-person musical ensemble, the Sun Ra Arkestra, have since kept his legacy alive through shows...
Block and roll: Roller Derby, the ‘sport for misfits,’ finds a home in the Valley
By Hannah Bevis For the Valley Advocate The floor of Interskate 91 South is often filled with young skaters teetering around the track, but the athletes on it now are sure on their skates, focused and ready to battle. Two jammers sit poised, their bodies coiled in...
Mixtape: Feeling lucky: ‘Second Tongue’ is the new album from local indie rockers The Lucky Shots
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate Local musician Noam Schatz has been playing drums in bands since he was 14 years old. I took a look at his website for his band The Lucky Shots, and I was in awe: The list of bands he’s been in since the ’90s is impressive....
Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: Budget cuts can’t kill culture: Highlighting two local productions that bring us hope
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate When Donald Trump announced he was assuming control of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, many nervous jokes were made to cover up the fear of what could come next. My vote for the best parody goes to Eddie Feldmann...
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,...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!
O Cannabis: Hey Pilgrim, How Was Your First Weed Harvest?
The harvest is in and I can’t believe the results.
Drum roll, please: Longtime UMass percussion instructor Thom Hannum inducted into Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Thousands of University of Massachusetts Amherst students have learned from percussion instructor Thom Hannum, whose 40-year career at the college included a tenure as the assistant director, then associate director, of the Minuteman...
V-Spot: Is Thickness Good?
This really depends on with whom you’re getting down with the thickness.
The Beerhunter: Craft Beer Goals for 2018
Cheers, America! According to the Brewers Association’s 2017 year-end report, there are now more than 6,000 breweries nationwide — an increase of 500 breweries from just six months ago.
Stagestruck: Complete Works and Half Life
After two-plus years, the ghost light has been turned off and Ghost Light Theater steps – or rather, runs – back onstage in Holyoke, this weekend and next. And WAM Theatre, the Berkshires’ peripatetic feminist/activist troupe, touches down at Mass MoCA this Sunday...
