From scraps to stunners: Sam Webber’s custom motorcycle shop in Florence brings vintage dreams to life
By Sam Ferland For the Valley Advocate There are few people that get to say they turned their passion into a living. Sam R. Webber meticulously assembled his 1950 Harley Davidson Panhead seven years ago with parts he collected from various locations,...
Revamped and revisited: Two older releases shine again in a brand new light
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate Kaspar Hauser Live at Zone Art Center, Springfield, MA 4-24-1982 A few months ago I received a CD in the mail from Georgia. I ended up putting it aside for far too long. I already had a lineup of reviews to...
The ‘Avita’ adventure: UMass alums launch AI-powered language-learning app
By Carolyn Brown For the Valley Advocate Trips to South America helped a pair of lifelong best friends from Northampton realize a love of learning Spanish. Now, they’re turning that passion into an app to help other people learn the language and make connections. Reed...
‘I’ve found my people’: How a Northampton festival is building a creative home for youth
By Carolyn Brown For the Valley Advocate The Valley has several of performance opportunities for adults, but a local festival wants to instead turn the spotlight on young performers. The Youth Performance Festival (YPF) will return for its seventh year this week with...
A life in clay and laughter: Pelham potter Michael Cohen, 89, left a lasting legacy
By Carolyn Brown For the Valley Advocate Michael Cohen’s friends knew him for two things: making a life in pottery and being the life of the party. “He was very funny,” said Harriet Cohen, Michael’s ex-wife. “He could crack a joke … and he was much loved by everyone...
Finding a foothold: Folk singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Diana Daniels to headline The Parlor Room
By CAROLYN BROWN For the Valley Advocate Last month, local folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Diana Daniels performed at the Parlor Room as part of First Night Northampton, an event in which she was one of more than 100 performers playing throughout...
Pulsing with intimacy, urgency: Heartbeat Theater launches its inaugural season with ‘Proof’ in Easthampton
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate Actor Kimberly Gaughan remembers taking her first step onto the stage. Technically, it was her mother’s aerobic step — it was the early ‘90s, after all — and its neon-pink-and-teal-striped surface beckoned her to rise....
Finding ‘the wow of now’: Amid neurological health battles, Northampton clown instructor embraces the power of presence
By CAROLYN BROWN For the Valley Advocate Fifteen years ago, Gabriel "Gabe" Levey’s life took a drastic turn when he had a seizure — his first of many. But rather than letting the diagnosis silence his career as a performer, the Northampton-based clowning instructor...
Unmasking the monster: VFX Supervisor Dennis Berardi joins filmmaker Robert Krzykowski to reveal some of the magic of ‘Frankenstein’ at the Shea
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate If “Frankenstein” is ultimately about creation — and pulling back the curtain between marvel and manipulation — it’s only fitting that CinemaStorm’s upcoming screening of Guillermo del Toro’s movie will itself be an...
The Rockwell captures the riotous color, glamour and sophistication of the Jazz Age: More than 140 original works electrify the galleries
By DON STEWART For the Valley Advocate A century ago, when women could be arrested for smoking in public and the manufacturing and distribution of alcohol was illegal, there was an artistic and social revolution in this country. You can view a wealth of Jazz Age...
Grappling with how society responds to disability: Rock-and-roll musical comedy ‘Tallywacker’ filmed in Northampton, Easthampton and Greenfield
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate The black-and-white buddy comedy “Tallywacker” opens on Aleister, its star, a young man with brittle bone disease sitting in a wheelchair in downtown Northampton. Locals will recognize the actor as Jeremy Dubs, who is a...
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!
‘I’ve found my people’: How a Northampton festival is building a creative home for youth
By Carolyn Brown For the Valley Advocate The Valley has several of performance opportunities for adults, but a local festival wants to instead turn the spotlight on young performers. The Youth Performance Festival (YPF) will return for its seventh year this week with...
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...
I did ketamine therapy … and here’s what happened: A one-time tripper takes a second psychedelic journey 50 years later
By Bob Flaherty For the Valley Advocate A gamechanger, they call it. A chance to face the challenges of your life head on. To free your mind, unencumbered by old negative patterns. Empowering your life. Re-setting your brain. Though it’s been around for decades,...
The Beerhunter: Kismet Brewing Company Prepares to Open in Westfield
Rich and Liz DeSousa, both longtime craft beer enthusiasts, are hard at work on their new business, Kismet Brewing Company.
Stagestruck: Riot Grrrls
Two shows I saw in London turn received history on its head. In the mini-musical “SIX” the half-dozen wives of Henry VIII sing their side of the story. And at the Globe, a distinctly non-Shakespearean play takes a non-binary look at Joan of Arc.
