Sounds Local: Local bands to honor Johnny Cash with birthday bash events

By SHERYL HUNTER

There are a lot of notable days in February – Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Mardi Gras. Now, the Valley Twang Cooperative has pointed out that there is another day in February that deserves recognition—Johnny Cash’s Birthday.Cash,...

‘10,000 Days in the Woods: The Beginning’

By TINKY WEISBLAT

“10,000 Days in the Woods: The Beginning”by H. Russell RichardsonDragon Brook PublishingIn 2019, Russ Richardson was hospitalized for a severe heart blockage. In the beginning of the Shelburne resident’s new memoir, he explains that he coped with the...

Sounds Local: High Tea release existential album, “The Wick and The Flame”

By SHERYL HUNTER

The past year was a good one for the folk-rock duo High Tea. Their EP “Old Cowboy,” released in late 2021, received positive attention and they toured heavily throughout New England, including a string of shows opening for Heather Maloney. High Tea,...

‘The door opener’: Longtime University Museum of Contemporary Art Director Loretta Yarlow to step down

By STEVE PFARRER

AMHERST — After nearly 18 years at the helm of the largest art gallery at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Loretta Yarlow will step down from the University Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA) at the end of June.Yarlow, who came to the Valley...

The water cure: Storytelling event in Northampton will examine how cancer survivors move beyond the disease, including competitive rowing

By STEVE PFARRER

Story slams have become all the rage in the last couple of decades, an outgrowth of poetry slams in which competitors tell real-life tales instead of reciting verse. The topics vary, but the goal is the same: tell short, engaging and truthful...

Sounds Local: Celebrating the songs of a beloved musical soul

By SHERYL HUNTER

You might not recognize the name Billy Conway or know of his ties to some of our local musicians, but I’m willing to bet that you have heard him play before. Conway, who passed away in 2021, is probably best known as the drummer for the Boston-based...

Giving voice to 100-year-old films: Pianist Jeff Rapsis to accompany silent film series at Greenfield Garden Cinemas

By MARY BYRNE

For Jeff Rapsis, who has been creating music to accompany silent films for the last 15 years, finding a way to bridge his love for music and silent films was like discovering the combination of peanut butter and chocolate – while each can be enjoyed...

Come on back: The Mead Art Museum, closed to the public since March 2020, reopens Jan. 31 for all visitors

By STEVE PFARRER

AMHERST — The Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, which has been closed to the public for nearly three years, is poised to reopen with two new exhibits in place.The museum shut its doors for all in March 2020 when COVID-19 arrived, and though it...

A doctor who still makes house calls: Tracy Kidder’s new book profiles Dr. Jim O’Connell, who tends to Boston’s homeless community

By STEVE PFARRER

In a long career that’s seen him win a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award, and a boatload of praise, Williamsburg writer Tracy Kidder has tackled a number of different subjects: the computer revolution, elementary schools, civil war refugees, the...

‘Delia’ by Hans Rickheit and Krissy Dorn

By TINKY WEISBLAT

“Delia”by Hans Rickheit and Krissy DornFantagraphicsI blush to admit this, but I had never read a graphic novel before opening the pages of “Delia.” It actually took me a few minutes to get used to the narrative form. Once I did, I was hooked on the...

Sounds Local: Pushing the boundaries of banjo, Nix releases new album, “Aperçu”

By SHERYL HUNTER

Greenfield resident Michael Nix has long been challenging people’s perceptions of the banjo, an instrument that many view as limited to bluegrass or country music. Through his extensive work as a musician, composer and teacher, Nix has shown us that...

Community seeks more public art

By JULIAN MENDOZA and MARY BYRNE

Greenfield and Erving are primed for a more colorful future with their acceptance to Making it Public: for Massachusetts Municipalities, a selective annual program that grants $15,000 and trains town officials to more fruitfully seek artists for...

Review: ‘More Than Friends’ shares stories from the Brotherhood of the Spirit commune during the ’60s

By TINKY WEISBLAT

“More Than Friends”Edited by Patti SmithLight PublishingI am old enough to recall that there were communes in our area in the late 1960s and 1970s. Indeed, these groups still exist to some extent. I am not old enough to have felt the siren call of...

Sounds Local: The Shea Theater presents Old 78 Farm Fall Festival Reunion this Saturday

By SHERYL HUNTERFor the RecorderPhil Simon of Warwick has been in the music business for over 30 years. He operates Simon Says Booking and Publicity based in Orange, and last year he assumed the role of Program Consultant at the Shea Theater Arts...

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes: Greenfield musician releases single and album inspired by house fire and breakup

By MARY BYRNE

On a Tuesday morning nearly five years ago, Chelsie Field, in the midst of grieving a romantic loss, returned home from work to find only the skeletal remains of her childhood home.“I knew these were two pivotal moments in my life,” said Field, 30,...

Through his own, unique lens

By JULIAN MENDOZA

Depending on who you ask, Franklin County is either a rural oasis of festivals, fairs and hidden gems or just a cluster of sleepy towns. Highlighted by his latest photo exhibit, local photographer Joe R. Parzych finds the beauty in both.Parzych, a...

The power of women’s hair: Photographer uses 19th-century technique to re-imagine female portraits 

By STEVE PFARRER

Time was when Rachel Portesi did much of her photography using Polaroid film. She loved the immediacy of the image, the way each photo was different and often didn’t quite match what her eye had seen, and what she calls “the feeling of Christmas when...

Sounds Local: Two-step your blues away: Winter Cajun and Zydeco Festival spices up Hawks & Reed this Sunday afternoon

By SHERYL HUNTER

An afternoon of dancing is the perfect way to lift those post-holiday winter blahs. So if that’s what you are in need of, head to Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 15) for the Winter Cajun and Zydeco...

Young Shakespeare Players East returns with “Twelfth Night” after long pandemic hiatus

By JULIAN MENDOZA

For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the youth theater troupe Young Shakespeare Players East are finally back where they belong.“There is poetry that’s meant to be read and poetry that’s meant to be spoken,” said...

Sounds Local: Rock ’n’ roll from the comfort of your couch

By SHERYL HUNTER

We talk a lot about live music here in Sounds Local. But since it is January and cold out and gets dark early, you might be interested in staying in the comfort of your home.Of course that is understandable, and fortunately there are some reading and...