Pittsfield’s Word X Word Festival: Not for Hipsters Only
Jim Benson, the owner of Mission Bar + Tapas and Pittsfield's leading hipsterpreneur, wants to make it clear that the second annual Word X Word festival—a celebration of the performed word that is written, spoken or sung—is not as avant garde as its marketing suggests. "There's nothing scary, nothing impossible to understand," says Benson."You can take kids, you can take grandparents." In its second year, Word X Word has matured quickly, going from five venues in downtown Pittsfield to nine. While last year's big event was Taylor Mali's performance at Barrington Stage Company's intimate Stage 2, this year Word X Word is holding its opening and closing performances at the 700-seat Colonial Theatre. "It felt like a big gamble when we decided to rent the Colonial," says Benson with a grin that's both earnest and mischievous. "It still seems like a big gamble."
The visionary Benson has found crowd-pleasing acts that can fill the theater. The headliners for the Colonial show on Sunday, August 22, are Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, who've been featured on the PBS series Sun Studio Sessions, and have a classic everyman's pop-rock attitude. They will be joined by spoken word artist Derrick Brown—a former paratrooper for the 82nd Airborne, gondolier and magician—whose self-professed goal is to make poetry as sexy as rock and roll; and local favorites Mike and Ruthy, the folk-rock duo formerly of The Mammals. (Ruthy is the daughter of Hudson Valley fiddler Jay Ungar who hosts WAMC's Dancing on the Air.)
Though all of the above have proven reputations and followings, Benson's favorite performers are emerging artists. "I'm always interested in seeing something new—what may or may not be the next big thing," he says. He likes the fact that Word X Word is an urban festival in the country where everyone can walk from show to show. "It's very different than a campground festival," he says.
Langhorne Slim "Cinderella" from Kemado Records on Vimeo.
Benson is like a Pied Piper who gets unlikely people to follow his vision. "There will be local music at The Lantern, and we are having the poety slam at Shawn's Barber Shop," he says, laughing. "It's the perfect place for a poetry slam. A great poetry slam is a raucous, high-energy, knock-down event." Jay Elling's recently opened Pittsfield Contemporary storefront at 305 North Street will be used as a theater where artist Douglas Truth will perform his one woman show, Death as a Salesman. The festival concludes at The Colonial on Saturday, August 28, with New England Americana Festival artists and Langhorne Slim, a Dylanesque singer-songwriter who's played both Lollapalooza and the Newport Folk Festival. Benson allows that the highlight of last year's festival was the rooftop party at George Whaling's Greystone Building. "It's tough to beat a party on a roof," says Benson. Indeed, the buzz was so strong that the party has already sold out, but tickets to all of the other events are available at Mission Bar + Tapas at 438 North Street. Click here for the complete schedule. Word X Word Festival 2010 August 21 - 29 Pittsfield, MAPlease Support Rural Intelligence
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