Arts
One of region’s largest bookstores is opening in town: Roundabout Books reopening, Nov. 4 and 5, will have music, food, magic and tens of thousands of books
By DOMENIC POLI
Depending on the era in which you drove by, you would have been able to find soap, dolls, popcorn balls, stoves or ironing boards at 85 Pierce St. And starting Nov. 4, you can add new, used and vintage books to that list.Roundabout Books is set to...
Music without borders: Tiny Glass Tavern mixes many genres with lots of joy for Nov. 1 performance at Edwards Church
By BELLA LEVAVI
No two shows of the Tiny Glass Tavern sound the same. Led by Artistic Director Sophie Michaux, who lives in Conway but was born in London and raised in the French alps, the music ensemble Tiny Glass Tavern combines a variety of genres to create...
Sounds Local: A voice of hope takes center stage: Grammy-nominated musician Seth Glier’s new album, “Everything,” offers harmony and solutions for restoring our planet
By SHERYL HUNTER
Rewilding the rivers, mammoths, and regenerative farming are not typical subject matter for pop-folk songs. Yet, these are some topics that Seth Glier tackles on his upcoming album, “Everything.”The eight songs on the album focus on the sacred...
Transplanting a 116-year-old organ: 1907 South Deerfield church organ saved just in time, finds new home at Merrimack College
By CHRIS LARABEE
On a freezing day in January 2020, notes once again rang out from the South Deerfield Congregational Church’s dormant organ, which had been sitting there in the unheated building since the church’s 2017 closure.Taking the seat at the instrument was...
Contra dancing: the antidote to pandemic loneliness: Greenfield social dance organizers hope to see attendance rebound to pre-pandemic levels
By BELLA LEVAVI
The Guiding Star Grange fills up with lines of people do-si-doing, dancing an allemande, ladies chaining and swinging their partners at the weekly contra dance. “Greenfield is the absolute locus of contra dancing in the country,” Devorah Rosenberg, a...
The joy of being spooked: Whispering Bones evening of ghost stories returns for haunted 13th year, Oct. 30
By BELLA LEVAVI
Escape from the trials and tribulations of today’s world and join a cast of performers for a pleasant interlude of hellish nightmares and feverish laughter. Pauline Productions is back with its 13th-anniversary tour of “Whispering Bones” at the First...
Sounds Local: Scary good options for Halloween fun: Next two weekends full of fall fests and costume contests
By SHERYL HUNTER
It’s that spooky time of year again, so get your costume ready, practice your Monster Mash, head to your favorite music hotspot, and get downright ghoulish. There are more music-filled Halloween happenings than you can say boo at, so I’ve compiled a...
Visions from state’s past find a new home: Photographer gives antique glass negatives to UMass
By STEVE PFARRER
Over three and a half years ago, documentary photographer Terri Cappucci received an unusual package: 4,000 glass-plate negatives of photos taken between about 1860 and 1920, courtesy of a collector who had no room for them and otherwise was going to...
Book Review: ‘JoJo and the Gazork’ and ‘JoJo and the Eagle’
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Children’s books never age. The JoJo stories by Peter Rosnick of Conway, with illustrations by Kathryn Burke, originated decades ago, according to the author. They seem eternally fresh, however.JoJo is an extremely small person — half an inch tall at...
Working Weavers’ Studio Trail aims to ‘make cloth visible again’
By BELLA LEVAVI
Eight weavers in Shelburne Falls, Conway and Florence will open their studios to the public this weekend for demonstrations and sales as part of the Working Weavers’ fifth Studio Trail tour. Studios will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday,...
Long road to screen: Amazon film ‘The Burial’ based on a 1999 New Yorker article by Northampton writer Jonathan Harr
By STEVE PFARRER
In late 1999, Northampton writer Jonathan Harr published a lengthy piece, “The Burial,” in The New Yorker, an account of a noteworthy 1995 trial in Mississippi in which a jury awarded a staggering $500 million to a small-scale funeral home owner for...
Book Review: ‘Fur and Feathers Together: A Tale from the Highland Woods’
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Children’s books often work best when they incorporate educational messages into fun, engaging stories. This combination of fun and learning forms the center of “Fur & Feather’s Together: A Tale of the Highland Woods” by Patricia Williams, with...
Sounds Local: ‘Flooded Fields, Full Hearts’ concert to benefit local farmers
By SHERYL HUNTER
There’s nothing better than live music — except live music raising money for a good cause.That will be the case when folk and Americana artist Reed Foehl and Friends head to the backyard at Berkshire East in Charlemont on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 3 p.m. for...
A re-awakening fit for the big screen: Pothole Pictures revives historic Memorial Hall Theater in heart of Shelburne Falls with apt screening of 1916 “Snow White”
By BELLA LEVAVI
In March 2020, Pothole Pictures was on the verge of celebrating 25 years as a volunteer-run community movie theater in Shelburne Falls when a state-wide COVID lockdown shuttered movie theaters just days before the opening night of its spring movie...
Sounds Local: ‘The Red Guitar’ and Grammy Award-winning reggae, plus benefit concerts for musicians in Ukraine and Maui fire victims
By SHERYL HUNTER
John Sheldon has been a popular presence on the local music scene for many years now. You may know him as the leader of the rock band Blue Streak or from his work with Do It Now, the politically charged group that includes percussionist Tony Vacca and...
Mints strongly encouraged: Garlic and Arts Festival celebrates 25 years with over 100 vendors, food, live music and half-price admission, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1
By DOMENIC POLI
The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and organizers knew just what to get you for the occasion: half-price admission that’s good for the whole weekend.To celebrate two-and-a-half decades of community support,...
Painting as a means of connecting: Ugandan artist Mwanga William’s work on display at Northfield Mount Hermon’s Rhodes Arts Center through Oct. 6
By JULIAN MENDOZA
Whether they make you feel transported to another world or right at home, Ugandan artist Mwanga William’s paintings reflect a culture worthy of Northfield Mount Hermon school’s embrace, according to Gallery Director Jamie Rourke.“Paintings by Mwanga...
Sounds Local: John, Paul, George and Pamela: Means performs all 17 tracks of “Abbey Road,” solo and acoustically, this Saturday at Hawks & Reed
By SHERYL HUNTER
When “Abbey Road” by the Beatles celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019, guitarist/singer/songwriter Pamela Means decided to perform the album solo and acoustically in honor of the occasion.Of course, that meant learning all 17 songs from the classic...
LAVA Center Film Festival maintains varied genres in third year
By MARY BYRNE
GREENFIELD — From hobbyists to professionals, filmmakers from across Massachusetts will have the opportunity to share their work on the big screen as part of the third annual LAVA Center Film Festival.The festival, welcoming all ages and skill levels,...
Sounds Local: Of Montreal founder calls style ‘wild and intractable’
By SHERYL HUNTER
The music scene here in Franklin County is off to a strong start this fall, with some nationally recognized artists coming to the area in the weeks ahead.It starts this weekend at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield when the band Of...
