Scanning old Clubland columns from 1999, there’s a long list of Valley music venues that didn’t last: the Bay State Hotel, The Swing Cat, Fire and Water, Grandstands, the Blue Moon Cafe and others.
But one that lives on is Flywheel, the volunteer-run, not-for-profit arts space in Easthampton. This month Flywheel is celebrating its 20th anniversary with some big shows, featuring musical friends old and new.
Ted Leo (Chisel, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, The Both), Jelani Sei (Hartford emo/future-soul), Pandemix (Boston hardcore), Diana Davies (songwriter, activist, artist and Flywheel’s “guiding light”), and Bromp Treb (“blips, blorps and herky-jerky jams” from Neil Young — not that Neil Young) perform Friday, April 12, at 7 p.m.
Bush Tetras (“Too Many Creeps”), early Flywheel regulars The Can Kickers (“The Carter Family meets The Ramones”), Bunnies (local prog-punk-psych), Rogue Conjurer (Baltimore-based heavy psych rock), and Les Derailleurs (local punk-new-wave) make up the quintuple-bill on Saturday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m.
On Saturday, April 20, beginning at 8 p.m., JD Samson (Le Tigre, MEN) headlines Queer/Punk/Drag Night II, which also stars Feminine Aggression (local drag-infused no-wave post-punk trio), Perennial (“punk rock for the mods”), Priscilla Porcelain (drag queen and artist), and PrettyBoi (Hartford hip-hop entertainer, “the love child of Dennis Rodman and Madonna”).
And Thalia Zedek (Come, Uzi, Live Skull, E), Jennifer O’Connor, Adam Reid and the Go Betweens, and brilliant Brattleboro songwriter Chris Weisman appear on Sunday, April 28, at 8 p.m.
Flywheel grew out of the Valley Arts and Music Alliance collective founded by musicians Helen Harrison and Cindy Bow, where members had the freedom to organize their own shows “within the context of mutual support, collective resources, and a shared vision,” Harrison said. “Flywheel basically gave that vision a home — and brought in more people who were looking for a place to put on shows or do their art.”
She described the “do-it-yourself” ethic of Flywheel: “To create alternatives to for-profit arts venues, to open up a space for people to experiment, and for community members to be able to walk in and get involved. Less of a product/consumer model, something more participatory.”
Jeremy Smith, one of Flywheel’s earliest and still-active volunteers, said Flywheel was and is “an open space. Anyone can use it as long as you become a contributing member to the collective and learn how the space works.”
There is a new volunteer open house and general body meeting on the second Wednesday of every month; everyone is welcome.
This writer volunteered to run the snack bar on some nights back in the early days, at Flywheel’s original space at 2 Holyoke Street (previously a cabinet store). Flywheel relocated to its new (and current) home, the majestic old Town Hall at 43 Main Street, in 2007, though it took three long years to renovate and reopen these high-ceilinged new digs.
Whatever the address, Flywheel has brought countless unique artists to town, many before they became “big,” including Tune-Yards, Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes, Speedy Ortiz, The Gossip, Ted Leo, astrology oddball Harvey Sid Fisher, the all-star Elephant 6 collective, free jazz legend Joe McPhee, leather-clad Japanese psych-rockers High Rise, Pernice Brothers, Mates of State, Ra Ra Riot, Versus, mystery man Jandek, and local performers of every generation and genre.
Smith remembers first hearing about the venue-to-be by running into Diana Davies on a Northampton street corner in 1998. Davies, a lifelong artist and activist, performed at the space’s grand opening in March 1999, and she’ll make a very rare appearance at the first of the 20th anniversary shows.
“She’s the godmother of Flywheel. She created the logo, the Flywheel font … she was heavily involved. She shares a lot of our vision, and she’s a good egg,” Smith said.
Though the arts space is maybe best known for its live music schedule, it also showcases the work of local artists, contains an archive of over 3000 zines, and currently makes room for a regular Zumba class, daily playgroups, and space rentals (weddings, bar mitzvahs, dance parties, kids’ birthday parties and more).
Jac Walsh, a current show-booking volunteer, was once a high schooler in eastern Massachusetts hoping to find a zine library. Flywheel’s celebrated collection got the attention of Walsh, who became a student at Smith and got involved in the space.
Walsh’s first-ever attempt at booking a show (Told Slant, Elvis Depressedly, and others) was in 2014, with help from member Liam Cregan. “He picked up the show, ran it with me, trained me, and honestly did a lot of the hard work for that first show,” Walsh said. About 100 people attended — a definite success. “I was so stoked to have played a part!”
In 2016, Walsh teamed up with Sam Chaplin to create the booking collective Eternal Slumber Party and put on a number of shows at Flywheel. “Our goal was to book marginalized bands, especially women and queer folks, and although ESP doesn’t exist anymore, I’d still say that’s my goal.” Walsh also is focused on making shows community events as much as concerts.
“Flywheel is such an important community resource. That was clear to me as a kid growing up in the Boston area, and it’s still clear to me now,” Walsh said. “Sometimes I worry that folks forget how special it is. It is a space focused on community building and fostering an environment for artists instead of turning a profit, which is incredibly rare in our world today.”
“I encourage anyone and everyone to get involved ahead of the 25th!” Walsh added. “That’s the beautiful thing about Flywheel — anyone can get involved.”
Ken Maiuri can be reached at clublandcolumn@gmail.com. More information on Flywheel is available at flywheelarts.org.