It’s time for Mud Season! I’m not referring to the mucky road conditions that come about this time of year — I am talking about Mud Season, the music festival that debuts this Saturday, March 19, at the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls. The festival, which is being organized by Dave Bulley of Turners Falls, is an all day event that goes from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Bulley has done a great job putting together a lineup featuring some of the Valley’s finest Americana artists. The lineup includes Eric Lee, CloudBelly, Love Crumbs, barnRocket Racketeers, BigFut, Alexx Swindell, Kate Barry, and Cody Bondra, and Bulley’s own band The Dave Bulley Band. The music will take place on two stages and the first hour of the festival will be devoted to a children’s sing-along. From there it will be a mix of music that includes Americana, country, bluegrass, and singer-songwriter.
Mud Season will provide listeners with the opportunity to check out some great local music and get an early start on festival season — and it will finally be a chance to hear Love Crumbs perform live.
I say ‘finally’ because the road to the stage has been a rather rocky one for the Greenfield-based band. First, there was COVID to deal with. The Americana group played their first gig on March 20, 2020, and, as we all know, the world shut down days later. With live shows put on hold, the band used the time in lockdown to record a couple of songs that Greenfield resident Michael Dubuque had written. The first of these was “Cavalcades,” which was released in January of 2021.
Dubuque wrote the song in the wake of George Floyd’s death and it’s powerful lyrics, combined with the song’s sweeping melody, had listeners positively responding to the tune. But it was Alison McTavish’s vocals, especially the way her voice soared through the chorus, that led to rave reviews and the song’s inclusion on playlists around the globe. “Cavalcades” soon landed in the Number 11 spot in The River- WRSI’s Top 93 Songs of 2021.
The group, which also includes core member Scott Wolfram of Conway on bass, followed up with “Ellipses,” a song with more of an indie rock edge that would garner even more attention for the band. To date “Ellipses” has over 100,000 streams on Spotify alone.
Love Crumbs was off to a strong start and when live music finally started happening again in the summer of 2021 they were ready — more than ready — to go and they started lining up shows. Then the band was hit by a major setback. In July of 2021, lead singer, Alison McTatvish developed muscle tension dysphonia after a respiratory illness. Simply put, if she sang she might never sing again. All of the band’s gigs were canceled as McTavish patiently attended to her voice.
By September Love Crumbs were able to perform at the Arcadia folk festival, but even that needed to be an abbreviated set. The months ahead meant no shows and more vocal therapy, but thanks to a great vocal therapist and a lot of hard work, McTavish said not only is her voice back but it is better than ever,
“I am considered fully recovered! No more dysphonia!” McTavish recently told Sounds Local. “I have to pull back on how much I rasp when I sing as a protective measure, and at first that felt like a loss to me. But the top of my range has expanded and improved so much, and I’m really enjoying that!”
The band has needed to slightly modify their existing songs to accommodate the singer’s new vocal needs, but she stressed the changes have been minor. Love Crumbs are now ready to go and are ready to hit the stage at Mud Season and to soon bring new music to listeners.
“Mike has a few great new songs that we’re working out and we really look forward to being able to get back in the studio again,” McTavish said.
So head to the Shea on Saturday and enjoy the amazing music at this new festival. For more information including the complete schedule visit mud-season.com. Tickets are available at that website, at sheatheater.org or at the door.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
Today is the day we celebrate the Irish in everyone, and there’s no better way to do this than to go out and enjoy some lively Celtic music! You can start by heading to Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield tonight where you can raise a pint of Guinness to the Celtic sounds of local band Paddy’s Ramble. The group has said they will be performing jigs, reels, hornpipes, and drinking songs. Music begins at 7 p.m.
The local bluegrass/Celtic band Ragged Blue will be on hand celebrating the holiday tonight at The Brewery at Four Star Farm in Northfield from 6 to 9 p.m. Ragged Blue has a series of shows in honor of the holiday and you can catch them over the weekend performing on Saturday, March 19, at Pioneer Valley Brewing in Turners Falls from 6 to 9 p.m.
The biggest holiday celebration will take place when Enter the Haggis is in the house for a Saint Patrick’s Day bash at Hawks and Reed in Greenfield on Saturday, March 19, at 8 p.m. The Celtic rock band from Toronto has a distinctly eclectic sound that includes bagpipes, fiddles and rock rhythm sections. They are known for their dynamic live shows and they are thrilled to be back on the road.
“Our album release tour was cut short by COVID but we are glad to be back on the road in support of ‘The Archer’s Parade,’ wrote Trevor Lewington, guitarist of the band. “After our U.S. tour we’ll be doing a unique tour of Scotland with a bus load of fans. The tour will be a homecoming for our piper, who was born in Glasgow.”
Enter The Haggis’ commitment to putting on great shows has made them a favorite at festivals and performing arts centers across the UlS. and Canada and has won them over a legion of fans known as “Haggis Heads.” Over the years they have garnered a loyal fan base here in Northampton, (they’ve been playing New Year’s Eve shows at the Iron Horse in Northampton for years) who know that this is a band that knows how to have a good time.
“For a St Pat’s show like this we definitely feature our songs that are Irish-inspired and driven by fiddles and bagpipes,” Lewington said. “I’m sure there will be a good contingent of kilt-wearers in the crowd.
Tickets available at hawksandreed.com.
Sheryl Hunter is a music writer who lives in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national magazines. You can contact her at Soundslocal@yahoo.com.