The Fabulous 413

Having access to instruments and making music has been a big part of our lives. And today on The Fabulous 413 we’ll talk to a Berkshire-based organization that has created not just an ensemble program that creates social change through music, but is creating and supporting families all over western Mass.  We’ll introduce you to the President and CEO of 18 Degrees Family Services Stephanie Steed wh...

Way back in April we talked with folx at City Space about their Pay It Forward Grant Program and now 10 lucky recipients are embarking on transformative artistic journeys through their space in Easthampton. We speak with artist who is kicking off that performance series: Deja Carr, who you may know better as musician Mal Devisa. We’ll find out what is going into her night of curated performances t...

We’re exploring new connections with ourselves, each other, the land, and our creative spark So we head to the hub of a new exhibit that has threads not just all over the valley, but halfway across the country as well. Exorcism equals Liberation is the title segment of a three part multi-disciplinary exhibit that takes a look at discourse, colonialism, and our inextricable ties to both. We’ll spea...

Today, we’re exploring possibilities, because everything is possible, even if we don’t know it yet.  It’s the central idea at the core of New York Times bestselling author and Amherst resident Angela DiTerlizzi’s book that has launched a whole series: "The Magical Yet." Along with discovering the breadth of her catalog, and hearing how one of her books ended up in cereal boxes, we learn more about...

Today is about empowerment It happens when two organizations come together in order to let someone out there name a quasi moon. But what is a quasi moon, and why are we letting the public name it? We’ll talk with Latif Nasser of WNYC’s Radiolab, and Kelly Blumenthal of the International Astronomical Union, as well as Mr. Universe, Hampshire College and Kainaat Studios' Salman Hameed about what qua...

It's a double Live Music Friday kinda day!  We’ll hear live music from  the Happy Valley Guitar Quartet: A small section of the large guitar ensemble performs for us before their fundraiser in Shelburne Falls this weekend. Orchestra members Emmett Troxel, Charlie Salzberg, Dave Fried, and Amy Lashley bring their 6-string and 4-strings  by for a performance, and maybe reveal the secrets and challen...

You may have noticed that we really like hanging out with folx who grow stuff. As they are the people who feed us, and since we also love food, it’s just a pairing that works really well.  So today we’ll spend some time with an organization of folx who want you to grow stuff too, and maybe even grow it better. In South Hadley at Full Circle Gardens, Sharon Farmer, Marjorie Gerard, and JoAnne Palme...

We’re rebuilding landscapes and crossing borders and timelines, but never streams In order to avoid paradoxes, we’ll meet up with Rangers Susan Ashman and  Kelly Fellner, and Researcher and PhD candidate Jessica Scott at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, where they’ll hold Workers Weekend. The event is meant to highlight both the impact of the location as one of only two federal armor...

A song, a dance, and a dip in the river Another someone we know has just completed traversing the whole Connecticut River, but this time, astride a bicycle. We’ll talk with Reporter Ben James about the in-between moments of recording his journey for NEPM and several other New England news outlets, and introduce him to someone else who has taken the same journey but through a different medium:  Kar...

Nothing but entertainment for your Friday.  Singer songwriter Johnny Irion joins us for Live Music Friday. His latest album, “Sleeping Soldiers of Love,” just came out earlier this month, so we’ll hear a bit about his musical journeys, including a collaboration with one of the Wilcos: Pat Sansone, find out what’s fun about that playing at the Red Lion Inn, where he’ll be August 31st, and how he’s...

Today, we’re exploring the subliminal stuff that’s there when you think it’s not.  Take John Cage’s 4’33”, which was first performed 72 years ago today. It’s a work that is seemingly nothing, but contains a whole lot more. And now there’s a picture book so you can explore the silence with your little ones. We’ll talk with Northampton author Nicholas Day about his book Nothing, and the neat ways to...

Today has a little glimpse of the many stories our neighbors have to tell us Starting with the Hampshire County Food Policy Council, who have been collecting stories from some of the folx in our neighborhoods who are experiencing food insecurity. From those interviews, they have created an audio archive that highlights the challenges and intersections of the struggles of folx across the 20 towns a...

 Ever since the very beginning of this show, there’s one person who we’ve seen the three H counties of western Mass. with just about every week.  And despite bringing them along on this ride from my previous radio life, this person has managed to broaden all of our ideas of who, what, where, and how agriculture happens in Western Massachusetts.   His name is Phil Korman and this is his last week a...

Today we learn the things we've always wanted to, but weren't sure of the channels to do it with.  Including a thing we talk about a lot: Music! The parlor room collective has just announced a Fall workshop series of classes offering tons of opportunities for newbies and veterans alike to come together and build more music. We’ll talk with Executive Director Chris Freeman, and Leo Harrison, Parlor...

The Arcadia Folk Festival kicks off today. Two days of un-amplified fun times celebrating both the great outdoors. So we’ll chat with Jonah Keane , CT River Valley Sanctuaries Director at Mass Audubon, about the Arcadia Sanctuary and the many things it does when it’s not hosting a giant festival, and hear music from some of the folx playing tonight’s Paul Simon tribute and tomorrow at the festival...

Today is a heaping helping of hometown heroes of stage, screen, and governance We’ll head to the Berkshires to talk with Colrain native Elizabeth Perkins, and hear all about how western mass played a part in her love of acting, and get a glimpse of what it was like to film the movie Big before you can ask your questions of the actor herself after a screening of that very movie at the Triplex in Gr...

 Today, we're traversing Franklin county to nourish the body and spirit.   Lake Pleasant started as a summer retreat for like minded and curious spiritualists, and has grown into a quiet but resilient community while retaining some truly unique locations. We’ll visit their sites and hear their history as they get ready for their 150th commemoration festivities this Saturday with Mary Bordeaux and...

Today, we're awakening to some truths the plants in our lives can tell us about.  We’ll head around the corner to Jen’s Organics where Jenell Smith is bringing a more public face to her ongoing journey of flavorful veganism in Mason Square. We’ll find out what inspired her change of habit, and the challenges she’s facing in her new brick and mortar endeavor, and the many delicious surprises that h...

We're back from vacation and highlighting some folx in the area who are also leaving their respective chrysalises. In Northampton, those emergences are musicians taking on the guise of other artists they know and love to raise money for arts education in the city. For the past 34 years, the Northampton Council for the arts has been ending summer with a locally packed blow out concert at Look Park...

We're about to go on vacation here at the show and it feels like we should start our pause with a bang. So for Live Music Friday we welcome the Greenfield-based synth-pop duo Homebody to the studio before their return to the Hatch Shell at Peskeomskut Park for their fifth free Homebody and friends show this Saturday. And ask them about the evolution of their sound and stage showin their 13+ years,...

We’re blending the old with the new, musically and agriculturally!  Sounds-wise, we’ll hear from renowned jazz guitarist Sheryl Bailey who is bringing her savvy touch and bop forward sensibilities to sit in with W. Mass’ own Green Street Trio. We’ll also find out from member of the trio Paul Arslanian what makes her style so compelling, and how their collaboration might sound this evening at their...

We’re learning skills to help the community through a near herculean amount of obstacles and circumstances  We chat with Cathy Stanton, author of Food Margins which looks at the impetus, trials and tribulations of the Quabbin Harvest Food Co-op. This Saturday will see a celebration of the 10 years of collaboration between the institution with the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, so we sit with...

Sweet treats for the people! Which is exactly what we all can get at Flayvors of Cook Farm. 5 generations and 115 years in the cows are still coming home to their location in Hadley and we chat with generations 3 & 4, Debbie and Gordy Cook, about bringing ice cream into the equation, the virtues of their multiple prize winning herd, and how the times have changed lifting their cream to the top...

A whirlwind of information today.  First up is Haydenville author David Daley, who arrives to talk about his latest book "Antidemocratic:  Inside the Far Right’s 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections". The tome looks at pivotal cases that have lead to several recent decisions, including the undermining of the Voting Rights Act. With this election cycle being perhaps one of the most contentiou...

We head out to Sheffield to sample the wares at Berkshire Mountain Distillers with founder Chris Weld and head distiller Will Wynn, look for the origins of our "love" of the game with Word Nerd Emily Brewster, and geek out for those of us who are unable to go to the ocean this weekend with beachy board games for Nerdwatch.