Monte Belmonte Wines: Cheers to DEI: Must-try wines from Black winemakers, both at home and abroad
By Monte Belmonte For the Valley Advocate Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. The leader of the free world is working diligently to rid the USA of DEI. And many organizations, large and small, public and private, are either obediently heeding our leader’s directives, or...
Lights, camera, Eastworks: Photographer and model couple open a new studio in Easthampton
By ALEXA LEWIS Staff Writer The story of David Heisler and Crystal Truehart Heisler is something straight out of Hollywood: A model and a photographer meet on the set of “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency” reality TV show, fall in love and spend years building...
Inside Wemelco, a Wonka works for weed: The manufacturing process of a thriving local cannabis company
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer The Easthampton-based cannabis manufacturer Wemelco Industries has seen notable growth in its first few years of operation — which is ironic, considering one of the only things it doesn’t do with cannabis is grow it. Wemelco manufactures...
‘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...
‘There’s a majesty to grief’: Poet and UMass professor Peter Gizzi wins prestigious 2024 T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Peter Gizzi, professor of poetry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently won the 2024 T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, one of the world’s most prestigious poetry awards. Gizzi’s book “Fierce Elegy” beat nearly 200 other...
Wheely funny: Chuckling Charlie Comedy Bus brings laughter through Northampton
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer All the world’s a stage — but for two local comedians, their stage is a green and black bus. The Chuckling Charlie Comedy Bus, the creation of Northampton comedian and comedy producer Tim Lovett, has brought laughter to locals since last...
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...
Bluegrass lovers, rejoice: Monthly CitySpace Bluegrass jam session starts Feb. 1
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Bluegrass music (like this reporter) is native to the American South, but starting next week, it’ll have a new home here in the Valley. CitySpace in Easthampton will host CitySpace Bluegrass, a new monthly bluegrass jam session for...
‘The road to hell starts with good intentions’: New opera tells the story of Northampton’s notorious revivalist preacher, Jonathan Edwards
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Jonathan Edwards, one of Northampton’s most famous residents, was a revolutionary preacher whose legacy has endured through centuries. He was the first minister in Northampton to baptize African Americans, yet he did not free those he...
Looking into the depth: Works by the late artist Daniel Feldman to be exhibited at Gallery A3 in Amherst
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer The late artist Daniel Feldman died in November at the age of 67, a few months before an exhibition of 14 of his works at Gallery A3 in Amherst was slated to open. When that exhibition, “Depth Be Depth,” opens on Thursday, Feb. 6, it will...
Knowledge is power, period: Turners Falls menstrual cycle educator offers holistic approach to pelvic health
By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN Staff Writer To Julia Demillones Moore, knowledge about periods is power. Moore, who goes by “Julia Moon Beam” online, is a menstrual cycle educator and a pelvic steam practitioner from Turners Falls. Through her two businesses, Wise Gal Period...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!
O Cannabis: How To Grow Your Own Weed Outside
Does cannabis really grow outdoors in New England? Yes!
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 with Yana Tallon-Hicks: I’m Threatened By My Girlfriend’s Masturbation Habits
Hey Yana, I’ve been in a serious relationship for almost two years now and am only now feeling strong flare-ups of intense insecurity around sex. My partner and I have been having sex every day at least once a day, if not two or three, consistently for the...
Emily Nagoski has done the research: It’s ok to love your body
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate "Emily’s mission in life is to teach women to live with confidence and joy inside their bodies." This sentence mesmerized me. It’s an assured statement about a complicated topic: body image and sexuality, and it is the...
The Beerhunter: 2020 Brew Years Resolutions
Across America, the craft beer scene is fizzing with activity. Food and drink options have expanded at taprooms, many of which are finding ways of attracting a daytime crowd by showcasing new skills like coffee roasting.
Stagestruck: Wit and Wile on the Riviera
As winter approaches, National Theatre Live serves up a summertime tonic (as in, gin and). The live-capture of “Much Ado About Nothing,” Shakespeare’s comedy of wit and wile, screens twice this month at Amherst Cinema, the Valley’s indispensable film house.
