The Beat Goes On: Boston bluegrass in Amherst, a rap and hip-hop festival in Hadley, and more

By STEVE PFARRER

Staff Writer

Published: 04-12-2023 7:16 PM

It’s a long way from Boston to the Appalachians, but you wouldn’t know it for the number of top bluegrass players and string bands that seem to come out of The Hub.

Consider Molly Tuttle, for instance, the award-winning guitar picker who studied at Berklee College of Music, or the energetic players of Twisted Pine, who also got their start in Beantown.

Then there’s Della Mae, who came together there and even have a song, “Boston Town,” about young women who went on strike for better wages in a factory in the 1830s (the factory was actually in Lowell, but Boston has more name recognition).

The all-woman Della Mae, who come to the Drake in Amherst on April 21 at 8 p.m., were nominated for a Grammy Award in 2014 for best bluegrass album, and they were also voted Best New Artist in 2013 by the International Bluegrass Music Association. They’ve made previous stops in the area, including at Signature Sounds’ Back Porch Festival.

The quartet (and sometimes a quintet), aside from showing off fine instrumental chops on anything from straight-ahead bluegrass to swing to honky tonk, is also not shy about song topics not usually associated with the traditionally conservative genre, including mass shootings, the Black Lives Movement, and sexual assault.

In “Headlight,” for instance, the title cut from their 2020 album, lead vocalist Celia Woodsmith warns of the danger of abuse — “And if it hasn’t happened to you, it will happen to your sister /And if it hasn’t happened to her, it will happen to another” — and the prospect of a woman’s claims of assault being disbelieved.

But, adds Woodmsith, “So be a headlight in this dark night /They might not believe you, but I do.”

The group at one time served with a U.S. State Department program that sent them, as cultural ambassadors, to play in countries as far flung as Guyana, Saudi Arabia,and Tajikistan. But given that a number of the members identify as queer or bisexual, they’ve become more careful about where they play these days.

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“It’s sad,” Woodsmith told the Guardian last year, “but there are places where it is really and truly not safe for LGBTQ+ people and we’re a bit more aware of the repercussions of what could happen.”

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maya de Vitry opens the show.

 

With Northampton’s Calvin Theatre largely shuttered, the Valley’s a little short these days on really big indoor popular music venues.

But there’s plenty of room outside, so the organizers of The Grass is Greener Gathering are headed to the grounds of the Young Men’s Club in Hadley April 21-22 for an Earth Day music festival featuring some major names in hip hop, rap and electronic music.

From DJ Jazzy Jeff to Action Bronson to Wyclef Jean to Break Science, the festival will feature over 40 acts, including some with regional ties such as beatboxer and multi-instrumentalist Gable Johnson III, a northern Connecticut native who performs as Honeycomb.

The festival, which has multiple stages, will also offer food and other activities, from carnival games to professional wrestling to keynote speakers to an exotic car show. There are vendors as well, including cannabis operators (the festival is for ages 21 and up only).

Last spring a similar festival, called Carniroll, was staged at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, a big goal being to showcase the kind of music that’s not often heard in these parts.

One local band that gigged last year, The Alchemystics, featured Northampton City Councilor Garrick Perry as MC; he told the Gazette he hoped the fest could become an annual event “and really tie the city into what’s happening.”

Tickets for the April 21-22 festival are available at thegrassisgreener.com.

 

It’s never too late to celebrate a birthday, right? So the Smith College Music Department, in conjunction with Valley Classical Concerts, is poised to pay tribute to Sergei Rachmaninoff, the great Russian pianist and composer, born April 1, 1873.

Rachmaninoff at 150, which takes place at the college April 22-23, features three performances at Sweeney Concert Hall, with two freebies on the 22nd and a ticketed show April 23.

Smith seems an appropriate setting for all this, as according to the music department, Rachmaninoff made his U.S. debut at the college in 1909, returning three more times to perform there.

At 2 p.m. on the 22nd, 12 Smith piano students will present Rachmaninoff’s early works, “Morceaux de Fantaisie, op. 3,” and “Morceaux de Salon, op. 10.” At 6:30 p.m., there’s a pre-concert discussion on Rachmaninoff’s legacy, followed by a 7:30 p.m. show with guest artists and Smith faculty covering “Trio élégiaque no. 1” and other compositions.

On April 23 at 3 p.m., Valley Classical Concerts and Smith present Armenian American pianist Sergei Babayan performing a selection of Rachmaninoff works. The pianist released a 2020 album, “Rachmaninoff,” that won numerous awards, including BBC Recording of the Month.

Tickets for the concert are available at valleyclassicalconcerts.org.

More music on tap

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Jeffrey Foucault will be at The Drake on April 15 at 8 p.m. Erik Koskinen opens.

A blast from the past: The English Beat, who became a sensation in Great Britain in the late 1970s/early 1980s with their mix of ska, pop and reggae, play Race Street Live in Holyoke April 16 at 8 p.m.

Indie-folk? Folk-rock? You can hear music along those lines when Canada’s Great Lake Swimmers and local heroes Winterpills come to Northampton’s Parlor Room on April 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Connecticut native and Grammy-nominated jazz saxophonist and composer Jimmy Greene joins, well, The Green Street Trio/Northampton Jazz Workshop for a free show at The Drake on April 18 at 7:30. A jam session follows the concert.

Texas singer-songwriter Gina Chavez, who sings in Spanish and English and covers multiple genres, comes with her band to Bowker Auditorium at UMass Amherst April 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Veteran blues guitar slinger Ronnie Earle and his band will be at the Bombyx Center for Arts & Integrity in Florence April 22 at 7 p.m.

The doors open at 7 p.m. on April 23 at Easthampton’s Marigold Theater for a double-dose of jazz: noted saxophonist Greg Abate and his quartet, and local favorites Juke Joint Jazz.

A note on tickets: We don’t typically list shows more than 10 days or so in advance, but in the past month, a number of area concerts sold out before they could make it into this column — The High Kings, Guster, James McMurtry, Hiss Golden Messenger. Three upcoming gigs — The Feelies at The Drake April 22, Father John Misty at the Academy of Music April 23, and Rufus Wainwright at the Bombyx Center May 4 — have sold out as well.

So if you want to catch two big names at the Academy later this year — Mary Chapin Carpenter Aug. 22 and Tommy Emmanuel Sept. 13 — think of getting a ticket sooner than later, because seats for both shows are already selling well.

Steve Pfarrer can be reached at spfarrer@gazettenet.com.

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