Arts
Strong songwriting marks two new Valley albums
By STEVE PFARRER
Get Gone by Dennis Crommett In the summer of 2021, Dennis Crommett and his bandmates in Valley indie rockers Spanish for Hitchhiking released their first album in several years, “Wild Love,” a hard-rocking collection of songs written and sung by...
Aerosmith announces farewell tour
By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr.
LOS ANGELES — Aerosmith will be touring a city near you for the last time to celebrate the rock band’s 50-plus years together.The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band announced Monday the dates for their farewell tour called “Peace Out” starting Sept. 2 in...
Delving into uncomfortable past: Nora Krug exhibit at Rockwell Museum explores family history from Nazi era
By DON STEWART
STOCKBRIDGE — Discovering the works of illustrator and author Nora Krug is an enlightening revelation. The German expatriate, a professor at New York’s Parsons School of Design, has written and created art for three books and provided drawings for as...
Book Bag: ‘The Fairest in the Land’ and I Can Be … Me!’ by Lesléa Newman; ‘Once There Was’ by Corrine Demas
By STEVE PFARRER
The Fairest in the LandBy Lesléa NewmanIllustrated by Joshua HeinzAbrams Books for Young Readers I Can Be … Me!By Lesléa NewmanIllustrated by Maya Christina GonzalezLew & Low Books Holyoke poet and children’s author Lesléa Newman, who’s written some...
Arts Briefs: Student art in Northampton, photos of rural post offices in Williamsburg, and more
Invasion of the student artistsNORTHAMPTON — Young artists from JFK Middle School and Northampton High School will have their chance to shine in May as two city galleries exhibit their work.Starting May 4 at the A.P.E. Gallery, a tradition continues...
The Beat Goes On: A folk legend in Florence, a young cellist in Holyoke, blues in Amherst, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
A couple years ago, Loudon Wainwright III passed a milestone: The venerable folksinger, 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...
Women take the stage: Easthampton and Northampton feature all-female theater productions this weekend
By STEVE PFARRER
If you’ve been thinking there aren’t enough good roles or opportunities for women in theater, this weekend offers a good antidote to that in Easthampton and Northampton, where several productions have been created entirely by women. Here’s what on...
Slam it: Academy of Music to host its first Youth Poetry Slam
By STEVE PFARRER
There are poetry readings, the workshop leader said, and then there are poetry slams — and it’s important to know the difference.“Slam poetry,” said Lyrical Faith, “is about winning. It’s a very competitive sport.”Faith should know. She began...
Come Together: New album by Valley musical ensemble TapRoots draws on a wide range of contributors
By STEVE PFARRER
Like millions of other Americans, Matthew King spent much of 2020-2021 in lockdown after COVID-19 arrived on the scene.But like other artists, King, of Amherst, also used that downtime to keep busy with his music, writing a number of new songs and...
Edo Mor looks to bring in international music based on the Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares model
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...
Ready for next artistic adventure: Amy Johnquest, longtime director of the Taber Art Gallery at Holyoke Community College, is stepping down
By STEVE PFARRER
Amy Johnquest has had a number of different gigs during her life, from designing posters for Downtown Sounds in Northampton, to painting signs and creating window displays for other businesses, to creating her own mixed media art.But later this...
Book Bag: ‘Sleeping as Fast as I Can’ by Richard Michelson; ‘Stay’ by Howard Faerstein
By STEVE PFARRER
Sleeping as Fast as I Canby Richard MichelsonSlant Books Richard Michelson has long made a name for himself as a children’s book author, winning a number of honors in the process, including a National Jewish Book Award for “The Language of Angels,” a...
Taking back the earth through the arts: Easthampton’s Earth & Fire Arts Fest tackles environmental issues
By STEVE PFARRER
The climate news seems relentlessly bleak: rising seas and melting glaciers; growing drought and firestorms; increasingly violent storms that destroy everything in their path and unleash terrible flooding.Oh, and let’s not forget more longstanding...
Bach is back, and live: UMass Bach Festival & Symposium returns in-person for first time since 2019
By STEVE PFARRER
April in Amherst in an odd-numbered year: It must be time for the Bach Festival & Symposium at the University of Massachusetts.The biennial event, begun in 2015, offers a wide range of J.S. Bach’s music, from solo performances to expansive pieces with...
Arts Briefs: Author talks in Northampton and South Hadley, a musical at UMass Amherst, and more
A slant on SondheimAMHERST — The 1987 musical “Into the Woods,” with music written by Stephen Sondheim and a plot based on selections from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, won a number of awards and has had several successful revivals over the year.Now...
The Beat Goes On: Boston bluegrass in Amherst, a rap and hip-hop festival in Hadley, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
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...
A David and Goliath battle: Acclaimed documentary by Northampton filmmaker tells the story of Jewish partisans in WWII
By STEVE PFARRER
‘Labor of love” might be a cliche. But when it comes to her new film, “Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery During WWII,” Julia Mintz says the expression is very much appropriate.Mintz, a documentary filmmaker who splits her...
Book Bag: ‘America Challenged’ by Rosalie Pedalino Porter; ‘The Masters of Medicine’ by Dr. Andrew Lam
By STEVE PFARRER
America Challenged: The New Politics of Race, Education and CultureBy Rosalie Pedalino Porter; Hamilton Books Amherst resident Rosalie Porter, who earned a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and later taught and...
Art exhibits spring forth: What’s on view at selected local galleries
By STEVE PFARRER
Spring is here — or at least the calendar says it is. And as the weather (hopefully) warms, there’s more incentive to get outside and check out what’s on view at local art galleries. Here’s a look at some selected shows this month. PULP Gallery,...
A transformative experience: In his new graphic memoir, Jarrett Krosoczka looks back on the life lessons he learned as a camp counselor
By STEVE PFARRER
Five years ago, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, already an acclaimed children’s book author and illustrator, took his career to the next level with “Hey, Kiddo,” a graphic novel/memoir in which he shared poignant and often painful details from his childhood and...
