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By STEVE PFARRER

Not so long ago, there was a general lament sometimes heard among Valley musicians: “There aren’t enough places to play around here.”That might have been true for professional players who wanted to be paid — and maybe, despite the opening of new local...

By STEVE PFARRER

The assignment is pretty straightforward: Tell a concise story about your life, in no more than five minutes, that reflects a certain theme.The challenge is in telling that story with enough heart, spirit, verve, humor or whatever else you can conjure...

By SHERYL HUNTER

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Pete Seeger’s death. The legendary folk musician, political activist, and environmentalist touched lives around the world with his songs, which were rich in hope and history and exhibited a strong sense of...

By STEVE PFARRER

Just days after former folk and Americana performer turned indie-pop singer Caroline Rose played in Florence, Cloudbelly, the Valley indie folk band led by singer-songwriter Corey Laitman, is set to showcase songs from a new album that has a...

By STEVE PFARRER

Since opening in the spring of 2022, The Drake has featured a wide range of music, from blues to rock to folk (and various combinations thereof), to jazz and more.“More” includes the Amherst club’s periodic forays into classical music, with concerts...

By STEVE PFARRER

If you’re like me, counting the days to spring, it’s a little over three weeks to the official first day, March 19.Yet that’s just a date on the calendar, and the weather in mid-March can still spell winter. But one antidote to that is to hit the Back...

By STEVE PFARRER

In my last column, I mentioned that The Parlor Room in Northampton and the Marigold Theater are maintaining busy schedules right through these early, dead-of-winter days.Another area venue that keeps pumping up the music is The Drake in Amherst, and...

By STEVE PFARRER

He’s one of the most famous and beloved children’s book authors ever, and he grew about 20 miles south of here. So the work of Theodor Seuss Geisel — better known, or course, as Dr. Seuss — seemed like a natural fit for the new musical by Amherst...

By STEVE PFARRER

Like father, like son: Tim Buckley and his son, Jeff, both became musicians at a young age, and both died well before their time — Tim of a heroin overdose at age 28 in 1975, and Jeff from drowning at age 30 in 1997.Tim Buckley became a pretty...

By STEVE PFARRER

Several years ago, South Hadley created a community block party, FallsFest, that was designed to bring people together in the Falls area, the oldest neighborhood in town, with the long-range goal of revitalizing the area, home to many businesses, and...

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,...

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...

By STEVE PFARRER

Just as the Yiddish Book Center has played a key role in revitalizing interest in the study of Yiddish literature and language, the Amherst center also has done its part to keep alive one of the liveliest parts of Yiddish culture: music.Now in its...

By STEVE PFARRER

June Millington is a familiar name in the Valley music scene, a veteran guitarist and educator who since the early 2000s has overseen numerous programs at The Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA), the Goshen center dedicated to supporting women and...

By STEVE PFARRER

Top music schools in Boston such as the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music have sent many talented players into the world, a good number specializing in rock and jazz and others making waves in acoustic music.Some of...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Valley’s music scene lost a well-known and well-liked voice last July when Kate Lorenz unexpectedly died of heart failure. Lorenz, who lived in Belchertown, had originally been part of the Amherst folk-rock band Rusty Belle in the early 2000s with...

By STEVE PFARRER

SPRINGFIELD — Almost three years after their last contract expired, and following months of contentious negotiations for a new one, musicians with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) have agreed to a new deal with the orchestra’s management.The...

By STEVE PFARRER

NORTHAMPTON — They’re back. And they’re in love.The Young@Heart Chorus, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last November at a sold-out concert at the Academy of Music, will return to the Academy on Sunday, May 7, with a new program dubbed “The Love...

By STEVE PFARRER

A couple years ago, Loudon Wainwright III passed a milestone: The venerable folk singer, known for his sardonic wit and autobiographical songs, turned 75.The number, on one hand, feels kind of arbitrary, because Wainwright has seemingly been around...

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — The Tree House Brewing Co. has won approval from the town to triple its occupancy for outdoor concerts and other special events to 1,500 people. The brewery, located off Routes 5 and 10, has 10 concerts tentatively scheduled for this...

By STEVE PFARRER

When he and his wife moved to the Valley in 2005, Edo Mor says he found much to his liking: good bread, good bicycling country, nature and more. But for some time, the kind of eclectic music he liked, from North African guitar sounds to Middle Eastern...