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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

’Tis the season of gigs by artists dropping new albums.In early April, the Valley indie-folk band Cloudbelly celebrated a new disc, “i know i know i know,” with back-to-back shows at The Parlor Room in Northampton, and Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini,...

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

Mardi Gras took place last month, but you can catch some of its flavor at the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity on March 24 at 4 p.m. when Jon Cleary & The Monster Gentlemen come to the Florence venue — with the Soggy Po Boys opening the show.Cleary has...

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

The Parlor Room features a steady stream of singer-songwriters, given the Northampton club’s intimate setting is ideal for acoustic music.The vast majority of those performers come bearing acoustic guitars. But Abbie Gardner will bring her dobro, or...

A grand reopeningEASTHAMPTON — With a dramatic increase in space, 50 Arrow Gallery will inaugurate its new locale Feb. 8 with a celebratory reopening and the unveiling of a new exhibit, featuring the work of Valley artist David Andrews.The gallery’s...

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...

A stylish and artistic send-offNORTHAMPTON — Anchor House of Artists, which is closing for a couple weeks beginning Dec. 24, will be open Dec. 30 to host a send-off for pianist and poet Eliot Cardinaux, who has spent much of the past decade shuttling...

By STEVE PFARRER

Like solo piano? Specifically solo piano from classically trained musicians who have infused their music with lots of other elements, from hip hop to jam band grooves to pop?If that’s the case, next Thursday, Nov. 9, you’ll have a tough choice to...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A $1 million gift from Amherst College is supporting the renovation and expansion of the Jones Library expected to break ground next year, marking the largest contribution so far to the ongoing $14.6 million capital campaign.The college’s...

By STEVE PFARRER

Matt Andersen may not be a household name in the U.S., but he’s plenty well known in our big neighbor to the north. The New Brunswick native has won a slew of Maple Blues Awards, Canada’s biggest blues honor, while also earning nominations for the...

By STEVE PFARRER

There are any number of guitar virtuosos in the world, but there are few if any who combine melodicism, technical skill, and sheer exuberance as well as Tommy Emmanuel, who grew up in Australia but was heavily influenced by fingerstyle American...

By STEVE PFARRER

A few years ago, Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares (PVJS), the member-supported concert series, faced the same issue all musicians, clubs, and show promoters were dealing with: a problem called COVID-19.Like others, PVJS went online during the worst of the...

By STEVE PFARRER

In recent years, David Wax Museum, which mixes Americana influences with pop music and traditional Mexican folk sounds, had spent a lot of time recording a new album, “You Must Change Your Life,” that the group — the husband and wife duo of David Wax...

By STEVE PFARRER

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bill Frisell’s performance at The Drake, May 27 at 8 p.m., is sold out.Calling all Deadheads: If you’re a longtime fan of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and the other players who once made The Grateful Dead one of the original jam bands, you...

By STEVE PFARRER

He’s been hailed as one of the best songwriters around, a troubadour of small-town America and the hardscrabble lives of its citizens.But James McMurtry has always taken a low-key approach to his music, and he did it again last week when he played a...

By STEVE PFARRER

Who says you can’t merge a Ph.D. and rock and roll?    As Florence Dore explains, she spent a long time traveling on seemingly disparate tracks. On one hand she was the professor who’d devoted years to studying American literature and teaching...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — For a dozen years, Yasmin Brandford has owned and operated Amherst Extensions and Beauty Salon, specializing in maintenance and care for African American hair.But Brandford says she didn’t seek American Rescue Plan Act money to grow her 460...