With recent temperatures hitting the 50 degree mark and higher in the middle of February, the current winter season in the Pioneer Valley hasn’t really felt all that, well, wintery.
However, despite many local meteorologists wringing their hands to remind us of how bad previous years have been, most New Englanders (this writer included) don’t start to feel safe from the ice and snow until at least Mother’s Day. So what better time to spend celebrating our inexplicable good fortune than by listening to a Western Mass-tinged track like “Valley Winter Song” by the power pop rockers of Fountains of Wayne.
Watch Fountains of Wayne perform a live version of “Valley Winter Song” here:
Is that a shout-out to the old Bay State Hotel I hear in the lyrics there? Maybe. Fountains’ guitarist and songwriter Chris Collingwood does reside in Northampton after all, and has even been known to take the stage with the Paradise City country group Gay Potatoes. Also, Collingwood’s songwriting partner Adam Schlesinger has been known to stop by the area on occasion, most recently playing the Iron Horse Music Hall in September with his band Ivy.
Whatever the case, with the whole month of March still to go the chance for snow and such to strike Western Mass. is far from over. But as long as we have good music like Fountains of Wayne to hold us over, we can rest easy knowing that brighter times are just around the corner.
For more information on Fountains of Wayne or to see future tour dates please visit www.fountainsofwayne.com.
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