© 2026 New England Public Media

FCC public inspection files:
WGBYWFCRWNNZWNNUWNNZ-FMWNNI

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@nepm.org or call 413-781-2801.
PBS, NPR and local perspective for western Mass.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Pioneer Valley Ska Festival, Etchings Festival, Silverthorne Theater Company

Right here in Springfield, we’re returning to our rudie dreams for the Pioneer Valley Ska Festival. 30 bands from all over the nation will venture to 52 Sumner in Springfield for 2 days of skanking, ska, and ska-punk goodness. We’ll hear from one of those 30 bands, Futon Lasagna from eastern and central Mass, as well as organizer Eric Coles of 413Ska about picking up the beat in this corner of the valley.

In Florence, the 17th Etchings Festival is bringing contemporary composers of many genres to the area to hone their craft and have it performed by well honed professional musicians in the Ecce Ensemble as well. Centered at Bombyx, the festival hosts 4 days of performances in their sanctuary and Look Park, and we’ll speak with founder John Aylward and visiting performer Pandelis Karayorgis of Boston Jazz outfit Surface of Sphere on this confluence of sound and exciting ways you can engage with the compositions.

And in a less music oriented cavalcade, but no less celebratory fashion, Silverthorne Theater Company is on the verge of opening their second production of their summer season, which will be their last on the Hampshire College campus, which has served as their summer home for years. We speak with director Ezekiel Baskin and others from the show Deep Blue Sound about this community environmental story, and what’s next as they look for a new summer location for the coming years.

Christopher “Monte'' Belmonte is host and executive producer of NEPM's The Fabulous 413. He was born and raised in Massachusetts and has been a radio host in western Massachusetts for the last 20 years — the last 17 of them as host of Mornings with Monte on The River 93.9/WRSI.
Kaliis Smith is a radio host and producer for NEPM's The Fabulous 413.