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By STEVE PFARRER

When Chris Smither found his live gigs shut down during the worst months of COVID-19, he figured it might at least be a good opportunity to write some new songs — something the veteran folk/blues singer and guitarist admits is not the easiest process...

By EMILEE KLEIN

NORTHAMPTON — Arthur, Paddington, Madeline and 26 other iconic children’s book characters are jumping off the page and onto the back wall of R. Michelson Galleries in a colorful four-story mural.The Northampton Arts Council sponsored the artwork and...

By STEVE PFARRER

The Valley continues to be a fertile place for music, with a number of groups and artists releasing new albums this spring. Here’s a look at two of the records, with female singers at the forefront.On the Water: Lisa BastoniLisa Bastoni has been...

By STEVE PFARRER

Madison Cunningham, who comes to Northampton’s Academy of Music April 19, won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album, for her 2022 release, “Revealer.”In fact, Cunningham, who grew up in southern California and still lives there, also has won...

By STEVE PFARRER

Not so long ago, there was a general lament sometimes heard among Valley musicians: “There aren’t enough places to play around here.”That might have been true for professional players who wanted to be paid — and maybe, despite the opening of new local...

By STEVE PFARRER

When Peter Sokolowski started work as an editor at Merriam-Webster 30 years ago, about 80 people worked at the venerable dictionary company in Springfield, including about 45 editors.But based on how quiet the offices were, it might have seemed the...

By STEVE PFARRER

Since 1987, the WriteAngles Conference had been an annual fixture in the Valley, typically held at one of the local colleges, bringing together area writers, poets, editors, publishers, and booksellers to examine all things literary.Then COVID-19...

By STEVE PFARRER

On the U.S.-Mexican border, a desperate mother sends her young daughter alone across a bridge over the Rio Grande to try make it into Texas. In New York City, a Jewish woman confronts the hole in her heart when she thinks of her former Muslim husband,...