photo courtesy of Taiga Records

Lindsay Mac and her cello

Cellist Lindsay Mac has appeared on the cover of Strings and studied at London's Royal College of Music and other top-flight conservatories. While even the most casual music fan quickly realizes such credentials are well warranted the first time they hear her live in performance, the Boston-based singer/songwriter admits that the way she has literally elevated her instrument to new heights seems to get the biggest initial reaction.

"I strap on my cello like a guitar and strum and pluck it while singing," she explains. "I'd like to say this all started from some sort of combination between boredom and illicit drug use, but alas, neither are true. I was just looking for my musical voice and realized that this was a way to achieve more of the sounds from the popular music that I was listening to day to day."

Based on Mac's popularity at the 2007 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, she and three other performers selected by the audience to return again in '08—Anthony da Costa, Joe Crookston and Randall Williams—have recently been tapped to hit the road with a package dubbed the Falcon Ridge Festival Preview Tour. The folkie foursome kicked things off May 1 in Pennsylvania, and are slated to stop at Easthamp's PACE this Friday, May 9.

In other news, those in search of more family-friendly festival fare should run for the hills the following day, May 10. To the Hilltown Spring Festival, that is. That's the day the 2008 installment of the popular mix of audio, edibles and otherwise area-specific activities (how else would one describe a demonstration by the Hilltown Pigeon racing club, for example?) down at the Cummington Fairgrounds happens between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Among the acts gracing the three festival stages this year are celebrated saxophonist Charles Neville, ground-breaking girl guitarist June Millington, Swing Caravan and many more. For a complete schedule of performers, times and directions, visit www.hilltowncdc.org.

Lastly, on a decidedly sadder note, the local radio community is lamenting the recent loss of one its most prominent "buds"—i.e., on-air personality "Buddy Rubbish."

Born Louis Roscher on Long Island in 1952, DJ Buddy Rubbish first rose to regional prominence with an oldies show that aired on WRSI FM 95.3 with Roscher's longtime friend "Bobby Darling" that involved—as Brian Anastasi, a radio columnist for the Daily Hampshire Gazette at the time, recalls—some highly unorthodox interviewing methods.

"There was an alleyway between the station and the drug store next door that Buddy called 'Memory Lane,'" Anastasi says. "People would come up to it and honk their horns, and Bobby would hang a mic down to them and talk and take requests& even throw 45s out of the window."

"As a more recent transplant to the Valley, my memories of Buddy on the radio were his Red Sox reports with Johnny Memphis," adds Chris Belmonte, current WRSI program director. "But my last, best memory of him came during an evening out with my wife in Turner's Falls at DiPaolo, where Buddy was bartending. Needless to say, what was supposed to be a romantic evening looking into my lovely's eyes turned into long conversations with Buddy about the Sox, radio, and why he'd rather have his daughter watch Clockwork Orange than a Disney princess movie."

Roscher later rounded out his on-air career with stints at WRNX, WGAM and WPVQ. According to his obituary—and oh, so true to form—"raucous celebrations of Buddy's life" will be held on May 18 at the Northampton Unitarian Church and the Northampton Center of The Arts in lieu of memorial services. Look for more details on both in future Nightcrawler installments. In the meantime, donations may also be made to Buddy's Kids at any of the 18 People's Bank branches in the Valley."

Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or email Garycarra@aol.com.