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By ALEXA LEWIS

Nature has served as an artistic muse for centuries, so it’s no surprise that music and environmental activism have historical connections.Two music festivals returning to Easthampton this summer embody the relationship between the natural and musical...

Turning trash containers into art BELCHERTOWN — If making visual art (rather than just appreciating it at gallery shows) is your thing, this call for artists may be for you. Artists are invited to submit proposals for designs to decorate three...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — As Tree House Brewing Co.’s concert season comes to a close this week, the town is preparing to work with the company to plan for 2025 as noise complaints to Town Hall have increased.Several residents appeared before the Deerfield...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Music from centuries-old folk songs and contemporary and classical tunes emanates through the hallway at the Bangs Community Center on a recent morning, as some of the autoharp players hold the instrument upright against their shoulders and below...

By PAIGE HANSON

During his sophomore year of college in November 2021, Charley Blacker wanted to start an organization that was unique and new to the University of Massachusetts Amherst community: a group dedicated to promoting local musicians through playlists,...

By PAIGE HANSON

The University of Massachusetts Amherst Fine Arts Center’s 2024-2025 season includes quite a few notable offerings, including “a one-time Grateful Dead keyboardist, two of the greatest artists in world music, jazz celebrations of the lives and work of...

By ALEXA LEWIS

When Shellie Stone went to Nashville two years ago, she was intoxicated with the city’s quintessential culture of  music and dancing, and immediately took to the dance floor. Stone, who had been line dancing for fun since attending her first class...

By STEVE PFARRER

In the early 1990s, I answered an ad for a reporting job at the Gazette. I had editorial experience — I’d worked as a copywriter, a copy editor, and a proofreader — and I liked writing, but I’d never worked for a newspaper, unless you counted a few...

By STEVE PFARRER

When folk rockers Eavesdrop and singer-songwriter Grayson Ty come to the Iron Horse on June 28, the fellow Valley artists won’t just be sharing the bill: They’ll be celebrating a reunion of sorts, looking back to the night a little over eight years...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

The 38th annual Green River Festival persevered through two days of severe weather last weekend as rain and thunderstorms brought delays and schedule changes for performers and festival-goers.Friday’s programming began when the gates to the Franklin...

By SHERYL HUNTER

Summer is in the air, and with it the Green River Festival, one of the most anticipated and most popular summer events in Franklin County. Now in its 38th year, the festival runs from June 21 to 23, Friday through Sunday, at the Franklin County...

By STEVE PFARRER

Summer brings outdoor music as well as any number of artistic performances, including theater, literary readings, dances and more.And it’s not just big blowout events like the Green River Festival.In Hadley, the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum has...

By STEVE PFARRER

When Chris Smither found his live gigs shut down during the worst months of COVID-19, he figured it might at least be a good opportunity to write some new songs — something the veteran folk/blues singer and guitarist admits is not the easiest process...

By STEVE PFARRER

It’s finally happening. Nearly seven months after ownership officially changed hands, and following extensive renovations, the Iron Horse Music Hall, shuttered since late March 2020, threw open its doors this week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Holyoke Civic Symphony has titled its 2023-2024 season “The Brass Menagerie,” not to be cute but to highlight a series of concerts dedicated to celebrating the family of brass instruments: the horn, the tuba, the trumpet, and the trombone.On May...

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...