A feeling you can’t replace: Body slams and feisty feuds, Pioneer Valley wrestling has it all
By Hannah Bevis For the Valley Advocate All hope seems lost. The hero, the crowd favorite, Pedro “The Shot-Caller” Dones, lies defeated in the center of a wrestling ring. The crowd lining the walls of the upstairs room of the Pulaski Club in Easthampton is hushed as...
Mixtape: A collection of albums for the end of the year
By Jennifer Levesque For the Valley Advocate As the year comes to a close, I have to say, I’m still very grateful for the gift of music. So here’s an end-of-the-year mixtape befitting this time of year, a taste of what I’ve been listening to lately. Joshua David...
Theater Matters with Jarice Hanson: As the curtain falls on 2024: Remembering three great losses to the Valley theater family
By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate If you ask any actor or person who works in the collaborative arts, they’ll tell you that one of the best parts about working in a creative field are the bonds that form with other actors, production personnel, and even theater...
Love is in the airwaves: Queer dating radio show creates connections and community
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer Finding love is all about finding someone on your wavelength. A radio show at the University of Massachusetts Amherst wants to help the local queer community make romantic connections, one guest DJ at a time. On the show “Queer Yenta...
Get a whiff of this: ‘Flora & Fromage’ unites nature, art and food for an olfactory party in the Paper City
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer When the weather outside is frightful, warming up indoors, surrounded by plants, food, art and live music, is so delightful. Such is the idea behind Flora & Fromage, an upcoming plant-themed art and food experience at Mill 1 in...
Eat to the beat: New event series in a new venue mixes music, meals, and job training
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer At an upcoming new concert series at a recently opened venue in Holyoke, guests can listen to live music while they eat themed meals and help local students build career skills. The series, Feast & Harmony, will debut next week at De...
Cooking made simple: Classes at the Baker’s Pin demystify the secrets and tricks of great recipes
By NAOMI SCULLY-BRISTOL For the Advocate Walking into the Baker’s Pin, you are greeted by cheerful decor, beautiful colorful pots and an array of cooking gadgets. It is a home cook’s paradise with everything you could possibly need, from Le Creuset pots to artisan...
‘The magic that existed back then’: Academy of Music to screen time capsule film of New Year’s Eve 1984 concert at The Rusty Nail
By CAROLYN BROWN Staff Writer It’s been 40 years since the band NRBQ played at Sunderland’s The Rusty Nail on New Year’s Eve, but a devoted fan and friend of the band kept the night alive with his concert footage. Later this month, the Academy of Music will screen...
A celebration of history-making women: The Rockwell Museum exhibits over 200 of Anita Kunz’s portraits in ‘Original Sisters’
By DON STEWART For the Advocate She’s the first woman, and the first Canadian, to present a solo exhibit of her work at the Library of Congress, and two of her paintings can be found at Washington’s National Portrait Gallery. You’d recognize Anita Kunz’s often...
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...
Scary and true: Half-hanged Mary and the real women behind the area’s most compelling ghost stories
By Melissa Karen Sances For the Valley Advocate “And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” — Friedrich Nietzsche I have never liked ghost stories. But when I heard about Half-Hanged Mary of Hadley, I was spellbound. Not that long ago, and...
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‘Creole love call’: Gombo launches new music series starting Feb. 2 with jazz reedman Evan Arntzen
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer When John Piskor opened his Cajun-style restaurant, Gombo Nola Kitchen & Oyster Bar, in Northampton last year, he said he eventually wanted it to turn it into something akin to a New Orleans cafe, where people come out for a drink and...
V-Spot: How Do I Help My Partner Without Being His Healer?
I’m nervous and feel a lot of pressure to navigate his sexual trauma.
Valley Advocate Staff Picks: Weege & the Wondertwins, Old Flame, Sodada, and Bad Bad Hats
In typical “W&W fashion,” the band is urging you to “SUIT UP!” in your finest suits and dress up for the show. Best suit of the night will receive a free merch bundle.
Raise Your Glass (Ceiling): Where are all the women brewers?
Two years ago, Kate Telman started making beer at her home in Easthampton. She planned to perfect a few brews, then shop her skills around to area breweries in the hope of getting a job. “I knew there weren’t really any job postings for what I wanted to do,” said...
Stagestruck: Through the Portal
Down a pebbled path flanked by tall grasses in an orchard hung with ripening fruit, we come to an archway fashioned of bent branches: The Portal. There, our Guides invite us to hang a slip of paper on which we’ve written something we wish to leave behind, after the cruel year we’ve just been through. (I write “Zoom.”)
