The Fabulous 413

Today is a garden sandwich with musical bread.  Next door to us at the Hope Center for the Arts , a heartland grown sound that’s been honed for 40+ years takes the stage in Springfield. The BoDeans formed in Wisconsin but have brought their take on roots music into the 21st century and we’ll speak with founder Kurt Neumann about his time in the music industry and more before you can see their show...

Amherst Media takes the tools of tv, video, and podcasting and puts them in the hands of a public eager to create their own content for themselves, the folx of the town, and beyond. We take a tour of the oldest continuously operating public access station in the nation, and learn how you can both celebrate and support them this weekend at their gala from executive director Rachael Figurasmith, boa...

Today on the Fab 413, we immerse ourselves in an exhibit that seeks to make sure everyone has access to art with temporal freedom in that connection.  Don’t mind if I do is a collaborative experiment demonstrating how temporary changes in power structures create pathways of access for visitors, artists, and staff. Anchored by a conveyor belt that brings artworks to visitors who are invited to sit...

We now turn our attention to another film that is locally grounded. Watching Mr. Pearson is a beautiful look at fame, legacy, memory and care through an aging actor and his two caretakers, and we speak with the core of the movie’s production teams Samantha Valletta and Dillon Bentlage about the process of completing this work before you can see it for yourself at Garden Cinemas in Greenfield this...

We head to the homestead of one of the area’s most famous and prolific writers to celebrate National Poetry Month with the written word past and present, because when your body of work is 1800 strong, there’s plenty to read and connect with.   We’re broadcasting from the Emily Dickinson Museum in the Evergreens with Jane Wald (Executive Director) and Brooke Steinhauser (Senior Director of Programs...

We’ve been a little remiss with our prose, because it’s National Poetry month and we have not really leaned into that So today we fix it because we’re chatting with folx from The Massachusetts Review. Founded by professors from area colleges, the magazine has become one of the most prestigious in the nation, having featured the work of Pulitzer and Nobel winners, and remains on the forefront of wr...

We get our flags ready for one of the area’s longest running traditions. Hampshire Pride hits the streets of Northampton and beyond on Saturday, May 2nd, one of the first of the calendar year in the nation. This year, the organization which was revived after the pandemic has an even larger celebration planned for the LGBTQIA2S+ community and its allies. We speak with Clay Pearson, Jay Kehoe, and C...

We’re looking for answers about sustainability because it’s earth Day today.  So in the most literal sense we’ll chat with organizers behind the Amherst Sustainability Festival taking place this Saturday, April 25th. Bringing together demonstrations, over 50 vendors of a wide variety of disciplines, workshops, bands and entertainment on the Amherst common so we all might make shifts for a better t...

The 4 counties are rife with film creators. The fifth Easthampton Film Festival takes place this weekend bringing a whole host of new and established movie makers together to screen their work, deepen their craft, and engage with the public! We speak with founder Chris Ferry, programming chair Lena Vani, and filmmakers of the short film "Thickly Settled" Brian Jones and Jordan Brooks, about the we...

Today on the Fabulous 413, we head back to the Berkshires to read more. The inaugural Berkshires Book Con happens Tomorrow April 18th through a super fun collaboration of local businesses and organizations. We talk with the folx making it happen at the Athenaeum, Pittsfield’s public library and hear about those partners helping to get the community more engrossed in all aspects of books with Libra...

Today, we head to Pittsfield where we’re using literacy to help encourage your littles to be more accepting in one of the best ways possible: with a drag show and dance party! The Berkshires chapter of the national non-profit Drag Story Hour is hosting the fundraiser EXTRAVAGANZA: Once Upon a Comeback at Wander this Saturday. We speak with organizer Poppy da Bubbly aka Casi Kristant about the impo...

Everyday on the Fabulous 413 we’re trying to make more community and today we’ll chat with some folx that are taking new approaches to just that In East Longmeadow, a couple of goats have paved the way to slowly return one plot to the farmland it once was. Dusty Goat Farm is growing microgreens, and has just evolved its thriving farmers’ market start into wholesale for the area. we speak with owne...

Today is entirely educational, in one way or another.  Parent Villages have been using a multi-generational approach to education, encouraging stronger communities while doing so for a number of years and spreading their mission further throughout the area. This Saturday, April 18th, they’ll host their 8th annual Education Matters Brunch, and we’ll talk with president, CEO and co-founder LaTonia M...

For this official Western Mass holiday, we hold a live 4-1-3 day trivia show at the NEPM Studios, where in honor of the area in which we live, we are challenging ourselves and a few audience members on our knowledge of said area in which we live.  Helmed by Chris Bigelow of Cloud 9 Productions, who happens to run one of the longest continuously operating trivia nights in the valley , we’ll test ou...

We’re giving you a devil’s choice of fantastic and inventive sounds. And a whole nation of awesome agriculture, because we’ve got not one, but two bands joining us for live music Friday. Each exploring interesting connections between Americana and the louder beyond. There’s the one man sonic cavalcade of self-made instruments that is Matt Lorenz aka The Suitcase Junket . This weekend sees the thir...

Spring seems to finally be spring-ing, and you can hear it though in the music in the air. Tanglewood Learning Institute’ s inaugural spring programming continues with a touch of jazz. Renowned saxophonist Nick Hempton brings his organ trio into their illustrious halls on Friday, April 10th . We talk with the Hard Bop enthusiast about his ska origins, emigration to the US from Australia, his lates...

In Northampton, P’frogi Pierogies is looking for a little help to aid their food trailer upgrade, and on Thursday, April 9th the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence will host a fundraising dinner to help . We speak with Irida Kakhtiranova, who built the business while in sanctuary at that very location during the first Trump administration, and learn about this evolution in her business...

Connecting the arts across the ocean are two W. Mass based composers who'll each have premieres performed in Florence at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity on April 12th.  Ensemble Télémaque is currently touring on a project they initiated to collaborate with US composers for the first time in their tenure, linking American scores and literary pieces with ties to Marseille. We speak with Kate Soper...

Here at the show, we are big fans of language and the many ways that we communicate with each other, and this weekend on the UMass campus, the first ever Festival of Languages and Dialects happens April 11th and 12th featuring a huge array of activities including a parade! We speak with organizers and linguists Edwin Everhart and Ashley McGraw about the fun that can be had when we listen more clos...

We’re exploring innovations, and traditions, and some places where the two overlap.  In Westfield, an incredibly prolific local artist has just had his exhibit extended. It seems that there is practically no medium that Don Blanton does not engage with, from sculpture, to painting, to graphite and ink, and even poetry, and currently a wide array of his work is on display at Westfield on Weekends ....

We’re highlighting an event that takes all we do on this show and condenses it into a day of learning, sharing, and expansion on the UMass Campus.  Art for the Common Good is a full day convention at the Fine Arts Center that is bringing together artists, healthcare practitioners, policymakers, researchers and community leaders from across Massachusetts to look at the connections between art and o...

No joke, we are building a better future through skill and laughter Right here in our own building the NEPM Media Lab spring cohort has just wrapped up their projects, which spanned from working with reporters at Mass Live, to interviewing their peers at schools in the area, and more. NEPM's director of education, Ismary Santiago-Lugo and education program coordinator Donyel Le’Noir Felton reveal...

“Alienated Tongues” is the theme of this year’s Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival (MMFF) which kicks off tomorrow at Amherst Cinema and will run every Wednesday in April. We are joined by MMFF guest program curator Ayanna Dozier , a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and assistant professor of communications at UMass Amherst, to hear about her vision for centering women directors for this festival,...

Today’s show is one big love fest. Big Love Little Performances is the area’s only karaoke and lip sync fundraiser, and it's happening April 2 at The Iron Horse in Northampton to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. We talk with two long-time ‘bigs,’ Bob Lowry and Jack Petrides, about the impact of mentorship on both the littles and on the bigs. We also talk with the creators of t...

The Back Porch Festival descends upon Northampton with 60 artists in American Roots music across a dozen venues, and The Fabulous 413 broadcasts live from The Iron Horse on to kick things off. For an extra special Live Music Friday, we’re joined by musical guests Willie Carlile , bringing us Queer Country out of Kansas; Olive Klug , singer-songwriter storyteller from Portland, Oregon; Sally Baby’s...