Jazz in the Valley Festival Returns to Poughkeepsie
Bassist Ron Carter headlines the event, which is now in its 15th year.
Aquarius Full Moon: Give Yourself Wiggle Room
Imagine you are focused intently on making your car fit into a tight parallel-parking space. You get it partway in, but maybe your approach wasn’t quite right. At a certain point, you realize that going back and forth at the same angle isn’t getting you where you want to go.
You need more wiggle room.
Chain and the Gang Rattle Kingston Tomorrow Night
The DC punk greats will play BSP Lounge with special guest Shilpa Ray.
Wassaic Summer Festival Features Live Music
The weekend-long event will feature 15 bands, plus art, dance, food, and more.
Photography for Girls
Kelly Merchant’s collaborative effort to photograph women, hear their stories, and share their perspectives manifests itself in Photography for Girls. Flipping through the photos in the smallish paper book, looking each woman in the eye, is mesmerizing; voices echo through the pages, discussing the unwanted male gaze, insecurities, motherhood, constricting gender roles, and what it…
That Essential Summer Ritual
In the parade of our neighbors’ livestock, recipes, garden-grown curiosities, and the original DIY culture of handmade crafts at our local country fairs, we share our passions and experience authentic, old fashioned, family fun.
The 27th Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
The 27th Falcon Ridge Folk Festival takes flight on July 31 and continues until August 2. The festival is held at the picturesque Dodds Farm in Hillsdale. Concerts, workshops, children’s activities, and dancing on a 7,000 square foot floor will all be a part of the three-day festival . The fest boasts concerts from artists…
The Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice
What began as a fundraiser for playground equipment in 2009 has developed into a five-day festival celebrating the power and breadth of the human voice. Opera, gospel, Broadway, world music—any form the voice can take is represented at the festival. The festival features internationally acclaimed performers, including the delicate tone of Lily Arbisser, throat-singing duo…
Music in the Woods
Woodstock is synonymous with music, and was even before the beatniks thronged to the area in 1969. Artistic spirit has thrived in the Hudson Valley for hundreds of years; Hudson River School painters captured and preserved regional landscapes in the mid-19 century, Washington Irving diffused local legend through writing in 1819, and numerous farmsteads have…
Laney Jones and the Spirits Visit Hudson
The Florida roots-Americana group will play at Club Helsinki on August 13.
Sweet Clementines Honor Grateful Dead with New Single
The two-song release is available for download via the New Paltz group’s Bandcamp page.
Wine Spectator’s 2015 Restaurant Awards
Wine Spectator magazine has published the annual list of recipients of their Restaurant Awards, and has included several Hudson Valley establishments out of the thousands reviewed. A leading authority on wine, the magazine reaches over 3 million people in print and online worldwide with intent to explore the role of wine in contemporary culture. “With…
To Market To Market
A partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Saugerties highlights just how much is going on at the Saugerties Farmer’s Market.
Dutchess Dragon Boat Race and Festival
Clans of dedicated participants undergo a week of training in order to prepare for the Dutchess Dragon Boat Race and Festival. Ten teams made up of 16 paddlers, one drummer, and a professional, experienced steerer, will compete for glory on the Hudson River. Spectators will have the opportunity to visit the day-long Asian Cultural Festival…
An Ancient Indian Therapy, in Peekskill
Shirodhara relieves stress, anxiety, and insomnia, and opens the third-eye chakra of intuition, dream, and inner knowing.
Bounty of the Hudson Wine & Food Festival
Do you ever get a fuzzy, warm feeling when you see a bottle of wine that was crafted in your home region? Do you have a difficult time deciding what bottle, red or white or rose, with the ocean waves label or the traditional script label or the understated beige label, to buy? Do you…
Jack Walls’ “Paintings, Et Cetera”
Opening night of “Paintings, Et Cetera” will be held at Basilica Hudson from 6-8pm.
Windham Chamber Music Festivals Opens on Saturday
The festival’s summer season begins with a concert featuring pianist Anna Polonsky and flutist Diva Goodfriend-Koven
Chronogram’s 3rd Annual Block Party
Chronogram’s 3rd annual block party takes over two blocks in Uptown Kingston on August 15.
Reptar Rocks Beasrville This Thursday
The Atlanta band and special guests Stranger Cat will perform.
Beautiful (Not Despicable) Me
Sometimes our girls need a hero to help build them up. And the Kingston-based organization, Beautiful Me, is ready to take those girls under wing and give them their own to fly.
Rip! The Musical
Gnomes of the Catskill Mountains put farmer Rip Van Winkle into a 20 year slumber. Michael Berkeley and Ray Roderick’s Rip! The Musical comes to The CENTER for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck from July 17-19 with four performances to explore Rip’s return home after his baffling absence. Revamped with a new script and score, Rip!…
Cards Against the Hudson Valley
Customization is all the rage in our solipsistic society; people enjoy creating things about themselves and the immediate world around them. It’s fun, and it’s easy to order M&M’s with your face on them, to get a highway named after your son’s Boy Scout troop, or to title your own pint of Ben & Jerry’s.…
Terrarium Building
Kids ages 3 to 6 are welcome at Olana on July 18 to build their own micro habitats.
Hudson Valley Hot Air Balloon Festival
Colorful globes will dot the sky for the next three days during the Hudson Valley Hot-Air Balloon Festival. Twenty-five balloons are scheduled to take about 100 flights in Dutchess County throughout the weekend. On Friday and Saturday at 6pm, the balloons will begin their journey from the banks of the Hudson River, just south of…
R. Ring Featuring Kelley Deal Comes to Kingston
The new duo fronted by the Breeders guitarist will perform at BSP Lounge on July 22.
The Putnam County Wine & Food Fest
The Putnam County Wine & Food Fest is returning to Beaver Creek Farm to stain red the teeth of locals and tourists for its fifth year. Under white tents on a green stretch of acreage some of the world’s most renowned wine and spirit producers will be pouring their concoctions for all to taste. In…
Music Festival is Back with a Bang at Mass MoCA
The Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival will take place July 13-August 2 in North Adams, Massachusetts
Light Summer Reading
Your local library is breaking out the summer reading program with weekly music concerts, science programs, magic shows, animal encounters, movie nights, and puppet shows. Did you sign up yet?
Wilna and Nan: Two Woodstock Originals
Wilna Hervy and Nan Mason were Woodstock residents whose party habits and extravagant lifestyle are a thing of legend. Even upon being diagnosed with a host of medical problems and urged by her doctor to stop drinking and smoking—Wilna partied on. But good parties and glamour aren’t the only things that Wilna and Nan’s legacy…
Omega Unscripted
The Omega Institute’s Unscripted Teacher Talks will take place at their Rhinebeck campus in July, August, and September.
Hip-Hop Doc Screens in Rosendale
Shake the Dust, which covers the global rise of breakdancing, will be shown July 12.
Three Wild Edibles to Forage for in July
Whether you live in a town or out in the woods, food is never far in the Hudson Valley—if you know where to look. Clover, purslane, and wine berries are three wild edibles that you can harvest in peak summer in the Hudson Valley to bring some wild flavor to the dinner table.
Well Spent: The Summer Fun Edition
High season in the Hudson Valley is a special kind of wonderful, from the glories of your own backyard to the wild beauty all around us. Make it even better with these summertime picks.
Yoga for Nepal
On July 19, Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie will be hosting Yoga for Nepal to raise funds for Direct Relief.
Tents & Tantrums: A Festival Survival Guide for Families
Festivals hold promise in their paper wristbands. We walk their grounds because there’s the possibility of happening upon something amazing.
Ambrosia Parsley: Bad Moon Rising
Singer-songwriter Ambrosia Parsley may be best known for the spooky noir of her old band Shivaree’s 1999 hit “Goodnight Moon.” And her solo debut, the Brechtian pop outing Weeping Cherry, just released in the US on Barbes Records, may have been fueled by periods of profound sadness and may be, according to her, “basically conversations…
Nightlife Highlights: Swirlies (July 1)
Swirlies play at the Half Moon Theatre July 1 at 9pm.
Nightlight Highlights: The Figgs Record Release Show (July 10)
On July 10 the Figgs celebrate the release of their 12th studio album, Other Planes of Here, with this high-powered hit job at the Low Beat.
Nightlife Highlights: Isle of Klezbos (July 10)
No strangers to playing in the Hudson Valley, the band returns to our region for a much-looked-forward-to show at the Rosendale Cafe on July 10 at 8pm.
Nightlife Highlights: Beacon Jazz Festival (July 25)
On July 25 the festival presents music from Sun of Goldfinger (featuring Tim Berne, David Torn, and Ches Smith), the Karl Berger/Ingrid Sertso Quartet, George Coleman Jr.’s Rivington Project, the International Brass and Membrane Corps, Mike Dopazo and the HV All-Stars, and DJ Grady Salter.
CD Review: Brand New Day by Donna Lewis
Jason Broome reviews the new album by Donna Lewis.
CD Review: Falling Up by Rich Rosenthal
Peter Aaron reviews the new album by Rich Rosenthal.
Short Takes for July 2015
Is that a novel in your beach bag, or are you just glad to see me? New fiction by Hudson Valley authors to savor in deck chairs, hammocks, and rooms with a view.
Richard Thompson’s Songwriting Camp in Big Indian (July 6-10)
“We’re in our fifth year now with the camp,” proudly proclaims British guitar hero Richard Thompson about Frets and Refrains, his acoustic guitar and songwriting camp held from July 6 through the 10th at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian.
Esteemed Reader: The Braided Matrix
Three things happened recently, events that are woven together in my being as a braided matrix. I can share two of these trials, and the third must remain a secret, as is only lawful.
“The Wreckers” at Bard Summerscape (July 24)
It’s about time! This summer, Bard Summerscape presents its first opera by a woman. It’s also the first opera in English to be staged at Bard. “The Wreckers” by Ethel Smyth opens Friday, July 24.
Putting (or Keeping) the Spiritual Body in Motion
Right now, the astrology is suggesting it’s a perfect time to bring your inner awareness and vision into some tangible, external expression. That is, to harness the energy you feel moving within you by actually doing something with it. You have to claim it through action to “own” it.
Off the Page
Random House takes over Basilica Hudson on July 11 to bring books to life Upstate.
PianoSummer at SUNY New Paltz (July 11-31)
An international institute and festival, PianoSummer draws people passionate about piano together to learn, respect, and revel in the multidimensional qualities of the art form under the guidance of artistic director and acclaimed classical pianist Vladimir Feltsman.
Parting Shot: Richard Pantell
Patriots is the fourth addition to Richard Pantell’s “Bather Series,” the first having been painted in 1986. Pantell is adamant about basing his subjects on real people and realistic body types—making his work an antithesis to the idealized images of fashion magazines and the media.
Cosmic PMS? Women and Men Ride This Wave
At the risk of appearing to reinforce dismissive stereotypes about women, the following image might help you to get a handle on some of the current astrology, which is still in effect after last night’s Cancer New Moon: the planets seem to be indicating a kind of “cosmic PMS” that you might be noticing in…
Monastery Vinegar Festival (July 11 and 12)
Monks, with their rigid daily routines and stringent discipline, are known for making some of the most celebrated beers and wines in the word. But, at Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery (246 Barmore Road in Lagrangeville), the monks craft vinegar.
Phoenicia Art Studio Tour (July 17-19)
This weekend-long event spanning all dozen or so hamlets in the town of Shandaken will take place from July 17 to July 19.
While You Were Sleeping
Nebraska bans the death penalty, airlines air meditation videos, and more.
Wassaic Project (July 31-August 2)
Every summer since 2008, the low-key hamlet of Wassaic transforms into a psychedelic amalgamation of art, dance, music, and film for the three-day long Wassaic Project Summer Festival (July 31-August 2).
Larry Beinhart’s Body Politic: A Rising Tide Sinks All Boats
Larry Beinhart on the tipping scales that weigh public education against economic inequality.
CATCH Takes the Hudson
Intentionally unorthodox, this flamboyant group of nomadic performers wants to stagger its audience by blowing the lines between artistic disciplines.
Editor’s Note: The Longest Day
Brian K. Mahoney and his wife keep their summer solstice sunset tradition alive.
The King of Hearts Vs. the Inner Critic
Wednesday night at about 11:30 pm EDT, the Sun entered Leo, ushering us into the middle month of summer. This sets the general tone astrologically (and it’s a warm, golden one), but another significant event Saturday is contributing an undercurrent you’ll want to begin working with consciously: Venus stationing retrograde in Virgo.
Know When You Don’t Know
I think about this concept a lot—how to know when you don’t know. For most people I run it past, it’s like a Zen koan, similar to “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” In this case, we could ask, “What happens when you rub one brain cell together?”
Warwick Valley and Sugarloaf: Black Dirt Beauties
It’s hard to overpraise the Warwick Valley. An hour and a world from Manhattan, clever planning, educated entrepreneurial energy, and a welcoming spirit have kept this landscape unspoiled while nurturing the endeavors and souls of local and transplanted creatives alike.
One Mile: Home Is Where the Art Is
Anyone participating in the Kingston gallery scene will instantly recognize the building as One Mile.
What We Learn from Public Gardens
Be they world-class or regional and scrappy, there is so much one can learn from public gardens.
Horizon Expansion 101: Continuing Education Opportunities
With hundreds of programs open to students of all ages, the time is ripe for busting out the old bucket list, or realizing what disciplines nourish your vitality.
Sister Healer: Sister Dang Nghiem
Doctor-Turned-Nun Sister Dang Nghiem Offers Inspiration on the Practice of Joy and the Healing Magic of Mindful Breath.
ArtScene TV Episode 7
Stephen Blauweiss gives a behind-the-scenes look at what to expect in this month’s segments of ArtScene.
Book Review—Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams Of Masanori Murakami, The First Japanese Major Leaguer
Robert Fitts, Masanori Murakami, and official historian for Major League Baseball John Thorn will appear 7/3 at 7pm, Oblong Books & Music, Rhinebeck.
Powerhouse Theater: School’s Out, Theater’s In
Talent flocks from all across the country to Powerhouse Theater at the Vassar College campus during its summer months.
CD Review: Homecoming by Bruce Katz Band
John Burdick reviews the latest by the Bruce Katz Band.
Mary Louise Wilson Takes Center Stage
Show-business memoirs are not a rare breed. But most are written by stars, imbued with the luster (or taint) of celebrity. What sets Wilson’s apart is her unique voice—bone-dry, hilarious, literate—and sharp-eyed gaze at the working life of a character actor.
Just Get on With the Climbing
With the installation of her pavilion Icarus Meet Apollo at Omi International Arts Center in Ghent, Diann Bauer says she “espouses high ambitions for humans knowing full well that we will fall on our face pretty regularly.”
Make the Decision and Step Into the Flow
By the time you read this, we will have just experienced two notable peaks of energy: the Capricorn Full Moon, and the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Leo (which you can see with your own eyes in the sky at dusk).
Book Review: Throne of Darkness
Even those who’ve never before encountered the good-natured and multi-talented little troupe making its way through the intrigues and dangers of 13th-century England will be drawn in at lightning speed.
The New Pornographers at Bearsville Theater on July 9
The New Pornographers will perform at the Bearsville Theater in Bearsville on July 9 at 7pm, with Thao and the Get Down Stay Down opening.
On the Cover: Carolita Johnson
Growing up in Queens, Carolita Johnson was oblivious to everything. Politics existed in the periphery, and drawing was a hobby best executed in Bic pen on computer paper. Now she’s a cartoonist who regularly publishes in the New Yorker.
Guide to Hudson Valley Fireworks
Commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in every nook and cranny of the Hudson Valley.
Top Sidemen Line Up for Hudson Gig
Musicians who’ve worked with Jeff Tweedy, Meshell Ndegeocello, Tommy Stinson, and others will perform together on July 3.
Inspiring a Love of Music
The Young People’s Concert series at Maverick Concerts is a unique gem and special treat for Hudson Valley families.
