Arts
Sounds Local: Music to bring your spirit back to alignment: Kristin Hoffmann returns to Shelburne Falls with new album to guide you on a personal journey of soul awakening
By SHERYL HUNTER
When Mocha Maya’s coffee house in Shelburne Falls used to host live music, Kristin Hoffmann was one of their most popular performers. The Juilliard-educated singer and composer was based in New York, but frequently played in Shelburne Falls and, in...
You are cordially invited to a mermaid wedding: Actors who met playing mermaids to wed this Saturday at Fairy House Day on Avenue A
By BELLA LEVAVI
The fairies who live in the planters of town are back with one magical day of celebration — this time it's a wedding. The fourth annual Fairy House Day on Avenue A will take place at Peskeompskut Park on Saturday, Sept. 2 from 1 to 4 p.m. “It is...
The Shelburne Artisans Co-Op celebrates 25 years: Artist-owned space welcomes new members to join
By BELLA LEVAVI
For the past quarter century, artists have been owning where they sell their work right in the heart of the village.The Shelburne Artisans Co-Op is celebrating its silver anniversary this year, marking the opening of its doors 25 years ago. “Looking...
Book review: ‘When Being a Nurse was Fun’: Memoir of a Deerfield-born nurse recounts trials and tribulations of one of the hardest jobs
By TINKY WEISBLAT
“When Being a Nurse Was Fun”by Ann WattStillwater River PublicationsJust about everyone comes into contact with nurses at some point, and just about everyone likes them. It’s hard not to admire people whose mission in life is to be competent and...
Sounds Local: Three solo projects from Kalliope Jones: Band members present distinct solo projects at the Ashfield Lake House Saturday night
By SHERYL HUNTER
If you are a fan of the band Kalliope Jones, you know that the group’s three members — guitarist Isabella DeHerdt, drummer Alouette Batteau and bassist Amelia Chalfant — are all talented singers, songwriters and musicians. But you may not be aware...
New book completes anthology of Franklin County stories: Longtime Recorder reporter Richie Davis releases “Flights of Fancy, Souls of Grace”
By BELLA LEVAVI
One of the many stories featured in Richie Davis’s third book focuses on a group of singers that meet every day on the Montague Common. The group, which includes Davis, has no leaders and has been singing continuously since the pandemic began.I...
They’re here, they’re queer, they’re hilarious: Far Out! Comedy Festival presents 50 comedians in Northampton and Greenfield
By MARY BYRNE
As many as 50 comedians will be performing later this month as part of a three-day comedy festival celebrating the voices of those who are traditionally underrepresented in the world of comedy.“Myself and any touring comedian would say that festivals...
A home for all the homies: Homie Collective Campout brings more than 100 jam bands and electronic artists to Franklin County Fairground, Aug. 25 through 27
By JULIAN MENDOZA
In search of its permanent home, one of the region’s largest “jamtronica” music festivals will set up camp next weekend at the Franklin County Fairgrounds.The Homie Collective Campout, a three-day congregation with more than 100 jam bands and...
Deerfield grad lands role on his way to Yale: Will Sussbauer plays a 1970s boarding school student in “The Holdovers” blockbuster, filmed locally
By BELLA LEVAVI
The picturesque boarding school campuses and Shelburne Falls village aren’t the only local features in the new “The Holdovers” film coming out Nov. 10. Ashfield’s Will Sussbauer, a Deerfield Academy graduate heading to Yale University this fall, got...
Sounds Local: Swing your partner round and round: Polka, square dancing, country and rock all on tap at the Heath Fair this weekend
By SHERYL HUNTER
Fair season is fast upon us, which is both good news and bad news. Good because who doesn’t love a fair? But bad because their arrival is a reminder that summer is quickly coming to an end.One of the first fairs of the season is the Heath Fair, which...
No longer lost in the shadow of her husband’s legacy: Researcher uncovers clues to the life of 19th century Greenfield woman, whose paintings hung in the Capitol
By AALIANNA MARIETTA
Hidden in a Greenfield basement was the breakthrough for Christine Pifer-Foote’s research on Anna Feron Pierce Judah, a ghost of Greenfield’s past: a watercolor painting of a flower from the 1800s.Until recently, Anna Judah, who Pifer-Foote describes...
Artists adopt a collaborative model: Self-curated “We’ll Show U” on view at Greenfield Gallery showcases diverse regional artists
By MARY BYRNE
A group of artists from across the region are collaborating on a six-week-long exhibit at Greenfield Gallery, demonstrating a partnership that seeks to model a collaborative approach to sustainable practice.The exhibit, “We’ll Show U,” is a...
Two new children’s books from Haley’s: “Madame Monarch” and “It’s Okay to Be Sad”
By TINKY WEISBLAT
“Madame Monarch” by Sylvia Wetherby Haley’s, 30 pages, $12“It’s Okay to Be Sad” by Kathleen Nicoletti Haley’s, 54 pages, $12.95Haley’s Publishing recently released two appealing, colorful books for young people.“Madame Monarch,” by Sylvia Wetherby of...
Sounds Local: Rocking Puppies pack a punk rock sugar rush: Father-daughter duo will perform at Peskeompskut Park this Saturday, along with Home Body and the Barlows
By SHERYL HUNTER
“To have fun and rock your face off” are the goals of Rocking Puppies, the father-daughter punk duo of Michael and Pema Crigler of Greenfield.Rocking Puppies will perform at Peskeompskut Park in Turners Falls on Saturday, Aug. 12, at 6:30 p.m., in a...
Echoes of ‘The Scream’: the stunning views of Edvard Munch on view at The Clark
By DON STEWART
It’s often been said by art critics that the most well known painted image is “The Scream” by Edvard Munch (1863 – 1944).The ghostly figure, with hands held to his face under a blood red sun, has even been satirized with comic characters from Bart...
Sounds Local: Gaslight Tinkers bring their danceable style to Permaculture Place
By SHERYL HUNTER
If you are in need of some feel-good music that will have you dancing until your feet hurt, then The Gaslight Tinkers are the band for you. The Tinkers are from Brattleboro, Vermont, and are known for uplifting, high-energy shows that always have...
Sounds Local: ‘Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy’: The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever returns Sunday to celebrate Bush and Brontë
By SHERYL HUNTER
If you head to Greenfield’s Energy Park on Sunday afternoon you will discover a field of red-clad dancers swaying about to the song “Wuthering Heights” by the British musician Kate Bush. The reason for this collective performance is that the dancers...
Ashfield Film Fest returns September 22 and 23: Hilltown residents are invited to submit films now through August 31
By BELLA LEVAVI
The Ashfield Film Festival committee is inviting hilltown residents to get their cameras out once again and submit films for the 2023 Local Shorts Competition.“The festival is all about us. It is about people here in the hilltowns,” Harry Keramidas,...
Book Bag: Debut novel by Dean Cycon tells the story of a fraught WWII homecoming for Holocaust survivors
By STEVE PFARRER
Finding Home (Hungary, 1945)By Dean Cycon; Koehler Books A common image from the end of World War II in Europe is that of cheering crowds of people welcoming Allied troops in towns and cities that had been liberated from the Nazis.A lesser-known and...
‘Curse of Cairn Castle’ and ‘The Witch’s Midden’
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Haley’s Publishing recently released two fun, colorful books for young people by the imaginative author and illustrator Elizabeth Lindgren of Orange.The first, “Curse of Cairn Castle,” follows the adventures of Beetle Beane as she battles for the...
