Four Sundays in February turns back musical clock with ‘Rusty Nail Revisited’

Before Pearl Street Nightclub and the Calvin Theatre, the Iron Horse Music Hall or other Valley clubs that have since come and gone, there was the Rusty Nail, perched on the edge of corn and tobacco fields on Route 47 in Sunderland, just over the Hadley town line. In the 1970s and early '80s - before the club burned to the ground in 1985 - the Nail boasted one of the busiest music scenes in the area, hosting not just popular local bands like Fat and Clean Living but rising regional acts such as NRBQ and fabled bluesmen John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters.

A 'do-it-yourself love letter' to the local music scene

"I never sleep," said Tessa Simonds this past Tuesday night, having zoomed into a restaurant booth for an interview and some fries, taking a break from putting up flyers around town for a concert she'd organized. "I don't like being bored."

Weekend Planner - Opera

If you're prepared to sit in a Cinemark seat at the Hampshire Mall for nearly six hours (with two intermissions) Saturday's live HD broadcast of a performance at the Metropolitan Opera of "Götterdämmerung" ("Twilight of the Gods"), the final installment in Wagner's colossal "Ring" saga, promises visual spectacle equal to the aural in the form of the produ

Headliners

Raising her voice

Dia Frampton lost "The Voice" finale last June by less than two percent of the vote, but who cares? The songs she performed on the TV show - Kanye West's "Heartless," R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" and the original number "Inventing Shadows" - became the highest-charting iTunes digital songs by any contestant on "The Voice," with the number of downloads sold reaching a total of 480,000 within a week of the show's conclusion. OK, maybe Kanye didn't reached out to her after hearing "Heartless" like she hoped, but all the half-Korean, half-Dutch Utah native has to do is remember how it was before she scored big - all those times when she had no money and she and her sister were forced to record songs at her mom's house so that you can hear the dishwater running in the background. "It was very stressful and difficult and I am just excited to move forward," exclaims the vivacious 24-year-old.

Advance bookings

 · Toby Keith, Rodney Atkins - Fri., Feb. 3, 8 p.m., Mohegan Sun. $65, $85. mohegansun.com

 · Lisa Lampanelli - Queen of Mean - Fri., Feb. 10, 8 p.m., Calvin Theatre, Northampton. $35. 586-8686, iheg.com

 · Rusko, Savoy - Fri., Feb. 10, 8:30 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst. $40. wwwmullinscenter.com

 · Miranda Lambert - Thurs., Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst. $27.75, $39.75, $51.75. wwwmullinscenter.com

Former area musician Brooks Williams returns from overseas to play Iron Horse

Brooks Williams has always had something of the blues coursing through his music. After all, the one-time Valley guitarist and songwriter was born in Statesboro, Ga., the setting for the classic song "Statesboro Blues" by Blind Willie McTell, which has been covered by numerous musicians. But it's through his touring overseas that Williams, who moved to Great Britain in 2010, has really come to appreciate his musical heritage. Next week, Williams, 53, who lived in Northampton, Shutesbury and Greenfield for over 20 years before his transatlantic move, will perform in the area for the first time in a couple of years.

• Click here for Brooks Williams website

Local musicians rally to help longtime friend

For decades, Donal Rooke has been a zen man-about-town, quietly acting as a steady-working engine for the local music scene.