Matthew King, the leader of the band TapRoots, feels that during this time of year, there are many reasons for people to come together to celebrate — celebrate spirit, celebrate community, celebrate the arts. This is why he is hosting the Winter Ball at the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls on Friday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m.

This event will feature performances by King’s world fusion band TapRoots and special guest Mal Maïz, a psychedelic Latin music band from Burlington, Vermont. In addition, a select group of local artisans and craftspeople will be on hand to sell their work. So, you can do some holiday shopping, hear great music and support visual, musical and cultural artists in the community all at the same time.

“I love the idea of bringing people together around the holidays to celebrate the community and each other — to lift our voices up and to dance and shake our way into the winter,” King said in a recent phone conversation about the Winter Ball. “It’s also about supporting local artisans, especially people of color. During the holiday times they are often neglected in traditional craft fairs, so I want to provide a forum for people to get their art out there.”

This is the second annual Winter Ball that King and his band have hosted. Last year’s event took place at Race Street Live in Holyoke and they have also hosted the Global Groove Fest at the Shea Theater in August 2022. This event doubled as a CD release show for the group’s sophomore album, “The Resonance Within.”

“We are excited to return to the Shea and have Mal Maïz with us. They bill themselves as the psychedelic side of Latin and Central American music,” King said of the group. “They have great high energy, very danceable shows.”

Mal Maïz has played in our area only once before, and King heard such rave reviews from the people who attended that performance that he knew he had to have Mal Maïz at this event.

“It’s always about being torn: do you want to have a band that is going to bring a crowd and help the numbers out, or do you want to find a group that maybe nobody has heard of but that you want to build community with?” King asked. “I went with the latter.”

TapRoots has enjoyed a busy year, playing shows supporting the aforementioned release of “The Resonance Within,” and the band has brought its danceable grooves to festivals like the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival and various local venues. TapRoots, which features a selection of excellent local musicians, continues to break down musical barriers as they blur funk, jazz, soul, rock and samba to create complex, yet highly accessible and danceable music brimming with uplifting lyrics.

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The band recently released a five-song EP that was recorded at a live show at Race Street Live in Holyoke.

“So many of these musicians are in different bands and playing all over the country. It’s a challenge to get folks together to rehearse, but I feel very blessed to surround myself with such incredible musicians committed to this project,” King said of the members of TapRoots.

Because the band’s music doesn’t easily fit into any specific niche, that’s one more reason that it holds its own events like the Winter Ball.

King, a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for the band, often wonders where TapRoots fits into the ever-evolving local music scene and what its role is during these incredibly turbulent, politically divisive times.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about TapRoots as a kind of artistic community movement that helps us get in touch with our humanity, that helps us get in touch with our human souls,” he said. “This happens through music, dance, singing together, spiritual upliftment. That’s kind of what I’m feeling that TapRoots is becoming as we head into these new times, especially during an election year where you know things are going to get crazier before they get better.”

The band is working on new material, including a song called “Get Free” that was inspired by the students King worked with when teaching at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School. “I feel that music has always been a way to get a message to the heart and to the soul, and I’ve been working with that with this new material.”

You will hear a couple of new TapRoots songs at this show and some old favorites.

“We’ll kind of mix things up and twist things around and have a great time in the process,” King said. “We love playing with each other, and anytime we get together we know it will be something special.”

Tickets, which are $16 in advance, are available at sheatheater.org. Day-of-show tickets cost $20. Doors open at 7 p.m.

It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that Darlingside was busking on the streets of Northampton and playing local venues like the Wendell Full Moon Coffeehouse. But in actuality, the band formed in 2009. In their early days, all four band members lived in a house in Hadley and gained attention for their irresistible folk-pop music marked by lush harmonies.

Nowadays, the members of Darlingside are touring throughout the country and Europe in support of their latest album, “Everything is Alive.” They will wrap up their current tour with a homecoming of sorts when they play the Academy of Music in Northampton on Friday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m. The band has some changes as David Senft no longer tours with the band. In his place is singer Molly Parden. Darlingside’s new album also features some changes as it shines more light on each individual voice instead of the usual emphasis on combined voices.

Tickets are $20 to $30 and are available at signaturesoundspresents.com. Doors open at 7 p.m. Caitlin Canty opens.

Multi-instrumentalist Chris Devine of Sunderland will bring his Jethro Tull tribute act “Minstrels in the Gallery” to Race Street Live at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 8 p.m. He will be joined on flute by special guest Cady Coleman, the famous local astronaut. This show may not only be your last chance to see this spot-on take on Tull’s music for a while, but also one of your last chances to experience music at Gateway City Arts.

After 11 years in Holyoke, the venue is for sale and will not present shows beyond Dec. 31. The hope is that someone will purchase the building and continue to host music in its two theaters, but that is still uncertain. Gateway City Arts will continue to book private events at the building until a buyer has been found.

Tickets are $20 in advance and are available at gatewaycityarts.com, or $25 day of show. The show is intended for ages 16 and up unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at soundslocal@yahoo.com.