Arts & Life
Book Bag: ‘Beyond the Monuments in Washington, D.C.’ by Michael Jacobson-Hardy; ‘The Sky We Shared’ by Shirley Reva Vernick
By STEVE PFARRER
The Sky We Shapedby Shirley Reva VernickCinco Puntos PressAmherst author Shirley Reva Vernick has written a number of Young Adult novels based on historical events, including her debut book, “The Blood Lie,” a story of an incident in an upstate New...
Expanding the musical horizons: Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares readies for new season with 22 shows and some new venues
By STEVE PFARRER
A few years ago, Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares (PVJS), the member-supported concert series, faced the same issue all musicians, clubs, and show promoters were dealing with: a problem called COVID-19.Like others, PVJS went online during the worst of the...
Arts and music: Folk music in Amherst, a new director at a key UMass Amherst gallery
Folk veteran and organizer playing church gig for climateAMHERST — Folksinger and songwriter Paul Kaplan, a longtime host of the Pioneer Valley Folklore Society’s Song & Story Swap, will mark 25 years of involvement with the event Sept. 2 when he...
Time to swing: Jazz drummer and South Hadley native Joe Farnsworth returns to the Valley for a concert honoring his idol, Max Roach
By STEVE PFARRER
Joe Farnsworth was 10 or 11 when he got the chance to meet a drumming legend: Max Roach.It was at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in 1979, where Roach taught. Farnsworth, who grew up in South Hadley, remembers how one of his older brothers,...
Three County Fair back for another ride: 35K expected to attend annual event that kicks off Friday
By MADDIE FABIAN
NORTHAMPTON — With a sunny forecast and a schedule packed with agricultural events, music, motor sport activities, food and local art, the 206th Three County Fair is set to kick off Friday and run through Labor Day on Monday.First been held in 1818,...
The artwork has landed: Art in the Orchard returns to Easthampton for its seventh season
By STEVE PFARRER
Along with its varieties of apples and other fruit, Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton now has some larger objects available, though just for viewing: artworks.Art in the Orchard (AitO), the biennial exhibit of outdoor sculpture and installations, has...
ARHS grad’s film shot in region to make debut
By Scott Merzbach
AMHERST — Playwright Annie Baker’s feature film directorial debut, featuring location shoots in Amherst, Hadley and Leverett in summer 2022, will be shown at the 61st annual New York City Film Festival this fall.The festival, running from Sept. 29 to...
Trailer for ‘The Holdovers,’ to be released this fall, features recognizable locations
By BELLA LEVAVI
With “The Holdovers” trailer giving them a sneak peak, Franklin County residents are likely to recognize many familiar locations when the film is released in November.Many scenes were filmed at Deerfield Academy and Northfield Mount Hermon School,...
Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: Daylilies provide maximum pleasure with minimal fuss
By MICKEY RATHBUN
When I was growing up in Virginia, the roadsides in summer were lined with orange daylilies. These are sometimes called “ditch lilies,” an unfortunate moniker for these tirelessly cheerful flowers that never flag in the face of relentless heat or...
‘A hobby that has no limits’: Hampshire County Radio club loses flying field after 60 years
By MADDIE FABIAN
Somewhere between 35 and 40 flyable model airplanes fill the basement, garage and two bedrooms in David Wartel’s Hadley home. And that doesn’t even account for the planes that are under repair.Wartel is just one of the 100 or so members of the...
A kayaker’s chronicle, part three: Cleaner river flows through state from Valley efforts
By ANNA LAIRD BARTO
Editor’s note: This is the last of a three-part series chronicling the current state of the Connecticut River as it runs through Massachusetts, in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to limit the Clean Water Act. In Part 3, writer Anna...
A change of the guard: Eric Carle Museum taps new executive director
By STEVE PFARRER
AMHERST — A significant change is afoot at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, where a new executive director is poised to come on board.Jennifer Schantz, who has an extensive background with a number of organizations in New York City, will...
Soaring toward success: 3,000 feet in the air, Valley teens learn leadership, responsibility in Civil Air Patrol’s cadet program
By CHRIS LARABEE
High above the Pioneer Valley and the rolling hills of the Berkshires on a hazy evening, rising Northampton High School senior James Bertone-Johnson made an announcement to the other two passengers.“I have controls.”At that moment, nearly 3,000 feet...
The Beat Goes On: David Wax Museum in Hatfield, Shakey Graves, Lucius and Roger Salloom at the Pines Theater, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
In recent years, David Wax Museum, which mixes Americana influences with pop music and traditional Mexican folk sounds, had spent a lot of time recording a new album, “You Must Change Your Life,” that the group — the husband and wife duo of David Wax...
North Square at the Mill District in Amherst continues to come to life
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — A cake shop and a coffee roastery opening at the North Square at the Mill District in the coming weeks are vital components for making the mixed-use development a more vibrant community and gathering spot in North Amherst.“We’re really...
Expanding perspective: Porter-Phelps property in Hadley wins designation as larger National Historic District
By STEVE PFARRER
In 1973, the Porter-Phelps-Huntington house in Hadley, which dates to 1752, won designation on the National Register of Historic Places, the federal program that supports and coordinates efforts to protect the nation’s historic and archeological...
A kayaker’s chronicle: Part two of three: Water’s out below Turners Falls dam; farmer explains exemptions to Clean Water Act
By ANNA LAIRD BARTO
Editor’s note: This is part two of a three-part series chronicling the current state of the Connecticut River as it runs through Massachusetts, in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to limit the Clean Water Act. In part two, writer Anna...
The Beat Goes On: Banjo master in Amherst, Diana Krall in Northampton, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
Long recognized as one of the modern masters of the banjo, Tony Trischka has been a big influence on different styles of progressive bluegrass and a guy who’s woven elements of other music — jazz, psychedelic pop, Great American Songbook tunes — into...
Book Bag: Can they find love at old folks’ home? ‘The Road Towards Home’ by Corinne Demas
By STEVE PFARRER
The Road Towards HomeBy Corinne DemasLake Union PublishingAmherst author Corinne Demas, a former professor of English at Mount Holyoke College, began her literary career writing primarily for adults, including some novels and short story...
More than ‘The Scream’: New exhibit at Clark Art Institute considers the artwork of Norway’s Edvard Munch
By STEVE PFARRER
Even if you don’t know much about art, at some point you’ve almost certainly seen Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” one of the most iconic artworks of the modern era: a strange, skeletal figure clutching its agonized face, its mouth an oval of horror,...