Introducing Freak Scene, a Western Mass. Music Newsletter

A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)

Welcome to the first issue of Freak Scene, a weekly newsletter about music in Western Massachusetts (and sometimes Connecticut). I’m Eric R. Danton, and I’ve been writing about music for long enough to recognize that it’s a tough time for arts journalism, including music coverage. Newspapers have cut budgets. Promising upstarts like Bandcamp have been sold from one tech company to another in the name of corporate synergy. Pitchfork last month was folded into GQ. In every case, newsrooms have been gutted, and coverage shrinks.

That’s bad for a lot of reasons, particularly for places like Western Massachusetts and Connecticut that exist outside a big-city spotlight. There’s a lot going on in the music communities here, and it often doesn’t get the attention it should. I hope this newsletter can go some small way toward changing that. The idea is to write about music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut): local musicians making original music, musicians with local connections, and what's happening on the music scene in this area. To start, I plan to do weekly write-ups of recent recording projects by musicians based in, or with connections to, the region, along with news items and concert announcements. As I find my footing, Freak Scene will expand to include more stuff, including interviews, stories previewing gigs and maybe even a concert calendar. At the outset, subscriptions will be free (though if you’re feeling generous, here’s a link to donate). If you are a local musician interested in coverage, I’ve outlined below what I’m looking for.

What’s in a Name?

Freak Scene comes from a song by the same title on Dinosaur Jr.’s 1988 album Bug, and they are, of course, a local band. The Amherst trio helped focus national attention on Western Massachusetts at the height of the ’80s indie underground, though the group is still sometimes lumped in with Boston acts. (As it happens, Dinosaur Jr. singer/guitarist J Mascis just released a new solo album; more on that below.) Freak Scene is also a nod to the breadth and eclecticism of the local arts community, and the people who are passionate about it. Webster’s fourth definition is the one I like best: “an ardent enthusiast.”

About Me

So, who am I to be writing a newsletter about music in this region? Fair question. I’ve lived in Northampton since 2010, and I have been going to concerts here since the late ’90s. (I think Bonnie Raitt at the Pines Theatre in 1999 was my first in Western Mass., unless we’re counting H.O.R.D.E. Fest at the old Riverside Park in Agawam in 1994). I spent 14 years writing about music for the Hartford Courant, including a decade as the paper’s rock critic. I was back and forth to Northampton so often for concerts that my predecessor once cracked that I should have been the Iron Horse beat reporter. Since leaving the Courant in 2012, I’ve worked as a freelance writer, contributing to publications including Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, Pitchfork, Paste and the Boston Globe, where I often write about Western Mass. Maybe you've heard me on WRSI-FM, 93.9 the River, where I did the Best New Song of the Week segment with Joan Holliday from 2012 until a hiatus that began in 2023 while I'm away from the Valley (I'll be back in June).

J Mascis, Loverman?

Because J Mascis is best known for the guitar acrobatics he performs at skull-crushing volume, the Dinosaur Jr. frontman is less often recognized for being surprisingly good at writing yearning love songs. In fact, I once emailed a Pitchfork editor I knew suggesting that they let me compile a list of Mascis’ best love songs. Don’t think I ever heard back (not uncommon). Anyway, Mascis takes a less heavy approach on his solo albums, and What Do We Do Now is no exception. Most of the songs here are built around acoustic guitars, and there’s an uncharacteristic focus on piano (“You Don’t Understand Me” opens with a resonant, rolling piano vamp).

Despite the acoustic underpinnings, he often includes musical interludes packed with blasts of electric guitar shrapnel — the solo on “I Can’t Find You” is a particular gem. Mascis sings in a plaintive drawl that sounds lovelorn, even when it probably isn’t, but given his gnomic demeanor, his vocals suggest a rich inner world full of wistful gazes and tender affections. And then, just when you’re ready for a declaration of eternal adoration, he sends a cyclone of superheated electric guitar to compress your lungs. But in a good way.

J MascisWhat Do We Do Now

What’s New

• In perhaps the biggest news, the Iron Horse Music Hall is set to reopen May 1, new owner the Parlor Room announced the other day. The music schedule is forthcoming, and renovations (and fundraising efforts) continue. The venue on Center Street has been closed since March 2020. Eric Suher, who bought the business in 1994, agreed in September 2023 to sell the club to the Parlor Room for $150,000.

• Springfield's Mark Mulcahy last week released The Tinsler, Vol. 1, a five-song EP covering songs by boygenius, Laufey, Adrianne Lenker, Mitski and Faye Webster. It was timed for Bandcamp Friday, when the platform forgoes its cut of purchases, but the EP is worth hearing anytime.

Mark MulcahyThe Tinsler

• Catching up, Sleeper Cave Records recently posted "Everything Is Not Lost," a new track that Easthampton singer Kimaya Diggs recorded for the studio's "Sleeper Cave Sessions" series. Diggs shows her vocal chops, wrapping her voice around the soulful melody as she accompanies herself on a Wurlitzer keyboard. I wrote about her last year for the Boston Globe when she released the album Quincy. Maybe new songs means she's working on the follow-up?

• Also, Ian St. George, founder of Thee Arcadians, Gland Pageant and Phenomena 256, released the new solo single “Waste My Time” in January. Full of fuzz-tone guitars, it’s a hooky addition to two previous songs St. George put out last year, the chugging “Kimberly” and a cover of Roxy Music’s “More Than This.”

Ian St GeorgeWaste My Time

Freak Scene: A User’s Guide

1. For coverage consideration, please send an email to erdanton at gmail (or simply reply to this newsletter) and include a short bio blurb introducing yourself, a link to hear or download music (on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Dropbox, Spotify, etc.), a release date and a photo. All sounds and styles are welcome.

2. The caveat: I always try to listen with an open mind, but I probably won’t write about everything I hear. I want Freak Scene to be positive and encouraging (as well as humorous and entertaining). Sometimes there’s music that doesn’t seem ready for a wider audience, or that just doesn't resonate with me. As the Big Lebowski once noted, “That’s just, like, your opinion, man.” The Dude was right. Even so, I’d rather pass on covering music I don’t like instead of writing something negative.

3. Original music only, please. Cover acts can be awesome, and they have their place, but that place is not here.

4. Though I’m hoping to write about new music in a timely way, it has always struck me as silly that most publications won’t even consider looking back to cover a worthwhile song or album that has been out for a while. It's not as if music has an expiration date. So, if you’ve released music within the past six to eight months, let’s call that “new music.”

That's it! Thanks for coming along for the ride, wherever it takes us.