Author Archives: admin

Mystics Anonymous is playing another show on December 7 at The Basement in Northampton, MA. To prepare, we’re adding a few songs to the set, and one of the interesting things about doing that is that some of these songs have never been played live, and I have no memory of how to play them. […]

I’m starting to think that blogging about great shows in the Valley is a crazy task. There’s always too many to mention, it would be a full-time job. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention two coming up this weekend. The first is at least semi-shameless self-promotion: Fiesta Brava is playing Friday night, […]

Suddenly, it’s November! I’m pretty swamped with finishing up the Fiesta Brava album, but quickly wanted to point out three shows this weekend: First, tonight (11/2) John Hodgman is playing the Calvin Theater in Northampton, MA with Jonathan Coulton opening. Sure to be a funny time. Tomorrow night (11/3) John Vanderslice and Crooked Fingers are […]

Halloween Is Coming… Today as I was driving along in my car, a really quiet, sad song had just finished playing on the car stereo. Suddenly, the stereo erupted in a cacophonous, dark, yet utterly joyous sound. It was the song Ichabod! by Th’ Legendary Shack*Shackers!* In short, it was the sound of Halloween. And […]

One of the things I love most about recording in one’s own home studio is the freedom to explore and experiment, and to slowly work on pieces of music, letting them evolve and become something other than what they began as. This works on the level of songs themselves, and also on the larger level […]

There are a number of wonderful shows by some great performers coming up in the Happy Valley area. First off, this evening David Sedaris performs at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton, MA. For those of you haven’t read or heard Sedaris’s brand of essayist humor, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Next up, on Sunday […]