Mahaiwe to welcome Gin Blossoms
Great Barrington — The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will welcome Gin Blossoms Friday, March 6, at 8 p.m. Billy Keane of the Whiskey Treaty Roadshow will open the show.
In late 1980s, Gin Blossoms started a huge following as the biggest local music draw in Phoenix. After the Phoenix New Times chose them as the city’s best rock band, they qualified to play at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, in 1989. That same year, College Music Journal dubbed them the “Best Unsigned Band in America” and added an invitation to perform on MTV’s New Music Awards in New York City. Taking their name from a caption on a W.C. Fields photo, Gin Blossoms signed a deal with A&M Records and recorded their EP “Up And Crumbling” in 1991. But it was not until their breakout record “New Miserable Experience” in 1992 that their rise to fame began. The album kept the band on the charts for almost three years with singles “Hey Jealousy,” “Allison Road,” “Until I Fall Away,” “Mrs Rita” and “Found Out About You.” The album went on to sell over 5 million copies, making the band a ‘90s radio mainstay.
Tickets are $50-$90. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Mahaiwe box office at (413) 528-0100.
–E.E.
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Spencertown Academy Arts Center to host ‘The Impact of Digital Media in Our Region’
Spencertown, N.Y. — Spencertown Academy Arts Center’s Conversations with Neighbors series will host “The Impact of Digital Media in Our Region” Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m. The event will feature a panel of local media professionals, including Berkshire Edge editor-in-chief David Scribner and publisher Marcie Setlow; IMBY founder and editor Enid Futterman; Luminary Media editorial director Brian Mahoney; The Gossips of Rivertown founder and editor Carole Osterink; and The Rogovoy Report founder Seth Rogovoy, who will serve as moderator.
“With digital press taking over, news about our community is delivered in an instant. How has that changed how we communicate and interact? This is an opportunity to find out from the folks on the front lines,” said Lisa Bouchard Hoe, chair of the Spencertown Academy Conversations with Neighbors Committee. “We are excited to be bringing together for the first time all these local media luminaries on one stage. Attendees will have a chance to get up close and ask questions of their favorite personalities, and find out what really goes into the publication of online media.”
Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for Spencertown Academy members, and free for youth under age 18. For tickets and more information, including participant biographies, see the Berkshire Edge calendar, or contact Spencertown Academy Arts Center at (518) 392-3693 or info@spencertownacademy.org.
–E.E.
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BCC culinary students to hold international dinner series
Pittsfield — Berkshire Community College’s culinary arts and hospitality administration programs will host an international and gourmet dinner series at 6:30 p.m. on select Wednesdays beginning Wednesday, March 4.
Tickets are $30-$35 and include an appetizer, salad and/or soup, entrée, vegetable, bread, dessert, soda, coffee, tea and one complimentary glass of wine. Gratuities are appreciated though not required. Reservations are highly recommended. For tickets and more information, including a complete list of themes, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact (413) 236–2115.
–E.E.
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Julie Blackwood to lecture on diseases, invasive species and ecological systems
Williamstown — Williams College associate professor of mathematics Julie Blackwood will deliver a talk titled “Diseases, Invasive Species, and Other Ecological Systems: Insight from Mathematical Models” Thursday, March 5, from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. in Williams’ Wege Auditorium. A reception will follow in the Schow Atrium.
Blackwood’s research spans a variety of ecological topics, including invasive insect management, disease ecology for both humans and wildlife, and coral reef conservation, and involves a multitude of academic fields, including physics, statistics, economics and ecology. She teaches a number of mathematics classes, from introductory courses to major requirements to applied topics. Her research has been published in journals such as the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, Letters in Biomathematics, and the Journal of Theoretical Biology. Blackwood received her Bachelor of Science in applied mathematics from Rochester Institute of Technology and her doctorate in applied mathematics from the University of California, Davis. Before she joined the faculty at Williams, Blackwood was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Complex Systems in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
The event is free and open to the public. For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the online map or call the Williams College Office of Communications at (413) 597-4277.
–E.E.
