The final night of Word x Word features one man tours de mots Rives as he unleashes “what he would do if…”  followed by one of the most acclaimed bands working in the U.S. right now, Langhorne Slim.  Special appearance by John Colvert,  Chris O’Brien and friends from the The New England Americana Festival.

One stage, one night.

Buy Tickets to the Show – $25 & $35,  Showtime 8 PM

Check out the artists:

Rives, on Def Jam Poetry

Langhorne Slim, Sings “Worries”

Chris O’Brien, Driftwood Folk Cafe

PLEASE NOTE: The time for the poetry slam has changed. It will start at 6 P.M.

Don’t miss the verbal sparring during the festival’s first annual poetry slam at Shawn’s Barber Shop. Aug. 28 marks the finals for the event. Only one will walk away the winner of Word x Word 2010′s slam.

Participants are encouraged to sign-up for the event in advance, slots are limited. The preliminaries are being held Aug. 27.

Think you have what it takes? E-mail us, wordxwordfestival (at) gmail.com.

Be a participant or a spectator… just don’t miss it.

Sarah Kay was born in New York to a Japanese American mother and a Jewish American father. She began performing poetry at the Bowery Poetry Club in the East Village at the age of 14, joining their Slam Team in 2006. That year, she was the youngest person competing in the National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas. She brings her incredible talent to 305 North for the festival.

Performance artist Douglass Truth, brings Death as a Salesman to Word X Word. It in Truth, playing his twin sister Dorothy, explores how a middle-aged lady helped Death become the world’s greatest salesman…Sort of.

Spoken word poet Matt McFadden, host of the Micro Theater’s “OutSpoken” series, and Brooklyn-based, The Nasty Midnighters open.

Check out the artists:

Sarah Kay, Def Poetry

Matt McFadden, Spoken Word at the Micro Theater

Douglass Truth, Death as a Salesman Trailer

Jason Spooner and his trio take to The Window.  No cover.

“His songs belie a sharp-tooled craftsmanship on the writing side, yet wash over the listener with fluid finesse,” – Wood & Steel Magazine.

Check out the artist:

Jason Spooner Trio, Live

PLEASE NOTE: The time for the poetry slam has changed. It will begin at 6 P.M.

There’s a ton of spectacular talent in the region and the festival’s first annual poetry slam at Shawn’s Barber Shop is an opportunity for them to match words … Aug. 28, at the Poetry Slam Finals, one will walk away the winner of Word x Word 2010′s slam.

Participants are encouraged to sign-up for the event in advance, slots are limited. Think you have what it takes? E-mail us, wordxwordfestival (at) gmail.com.

Be a participant or a spectator… just don’t miss it.

This double bill in The Mission Window features DANyDANY and Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards. No cover.

Known primarily for their collaboration in the conceptually based folk trio “The Accident That Led Me To The World,” Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards each have solo releases to talk up these days. As performers, Mandeville and Richards choose to cooperatively present their material as a duo – in the tradition of folk and country music, they share close vocal harmonies and strictly acoustic accompaniment (6-string guitar, ukulele, banjo, tin whistle, harmonica).

Check out the artists:

Mark & Raianne, Play WKNH’s Let’s Get Folked Up

A special triple-bill, Spies, Sanjiban, and Levine perform separately -  music and poetry – at the Micro Theater, a venue new to the festival this year! $10 Suggested Donation.

Check out the artists:

JoAnne Spies, Performing at FOD Fest

Spoken word artist Roger Bonair-Agard describes himself as a,” Trinidadian native, poet/writer/essayist/shit talker, and professional procrastinator. ”

He headlines this incredible evening at 305 North Street.

Before that, performance artist Douglass Truth, brings Death as a Salesman to Word X Word. It in Truth, playing his twin sister Dorothy, explores how a middle-aged lady helped Death become the world’s greatest salesman…Sort of.

Billy Keane and the Misdemeanor Outlaws get things started.

Check out the artists:

Roger Bonair-Agard, Def Poetry Jam – HBO

Douglass Truth, Death as a Salesman Trailer

Emerging singer/songwriters Jacqueline Francis (above) and Ian Fitzgerald (below) play solo sets at The Lantern.

Check out the artists:

Ian Fitzgerald, Playing Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

Jacqueline Francis, Playing Club Passim

Tickets to this show MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE.  

You have never seen them on MTV, nor heard them on a Top 40 FM radio station, but with 5.5 million spins on Pandora, Barefoot Truth has quickly become a symbol of independent music success, and just may be ‘the biggest band you’ve never heard of’. Mixing the sounds of folk, rock, jazz, and reggae, with lyrics full of unbridled optimism, the band has crafted a sound that is distinctly Barefoot Truth. For Word x Word Will Evans and Andy Wrba take The Mission Window a rare double bill not-to-be-missed.

Tickets – $10.

Check out the artists:

With the subtle rage of a caged beast, cruel Bartok made most with what was least, decided upon two quarter swirls, he haunted the tripping scenster girls, so light in movement, yet heavy at heart, his baven soul would but gleam in dark, by the grotto of Scandanavian name, primeval Bartok came. Obscure? This article in the Valley Advocate should clear things up. Still confounded? Check out this man’s experience of Bella’s Bartok

Ok, so Bella’s Bartok loves to goof and joke – but this band is no joke at all. They headline this killer evening at PittsfieldContemporary.com’s space 305 North.

Gabriel Squailia, a Pittsfield writer also known as DJ BFG, will be reading from Dead Boys a novel of fantastic adventure set in the afterlife. “It’s a coming-of-age story whose heroes died in their teens,” says Squailia of his new work.  ”I was inspired by Japanese comics, Buddhist teachings, and classic tales of adventure like Don Quixote and Watership Down.”

Local Poet Wild Bill “firehands” opens.

Check out the artists:
Bella’s Bartok, Party Song

Emerging musicians Chris Scanlon (above) and Ashlands Attic (below) play separate sets at The Lantern.  No cover.

Check out the the artists:

Chris Scanlon

Ashlands Attic

This event is SOLD OUT. Thanks for your support.

Maggie Mailer and Nanny Vonnegut take part in a moderated conversation of their lives as painters and daughters of noted authors Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut at the Ferrin Gallery.
This event is part of the Ferrin’s Dish & Dine series.
Tickets for dinner and the discussion are $75 and available through the gallery.

Maggie Mailer’s current exhibition of recent paintings, “The Balloonists” is on view at Ferrin Gallery through September 18th.  Nanny Vonnegut’s drawings and paintings on glass are represented by Ferrin Gallery.

These four emerging artists are a part of Word x Word’s second annual Local Performers Showcase. They’ll perform spoken word poetry at the Micro Theater, a venue new to the festival this year! $5 Suggested Donation.

Check out the artists:

Chris Locke

Melissa Quirk

Seth Brown

These four emerging artists are a part of Word x Word’s second annual Local Performers Showcase. They’ll play The Mission Window, no cover.

Check out the artists:

Tom Gizzi

Kristen Miller (above) and Abbie Barrett (below) will play solo sets at The Lantern, a venue new to the festival this year, no cover.

Check out the artists:

Kristen Miller, Note to the Muse

Abbie Barrett, Live at Club Passim

“Don’t believe in the sun, make your own light, stand in the light…” – Ching Chong Song lyric.

Ching Chong Song, comprises Julie Lamendola and Dan Gower. The Brooklyn based saw/piano duo writes songs that are lyrically and musically at once dark, serious, brooding and funny. In non-apologetic cabaret fashion they candidly address the audience both with assertive, melodic singing and non-conventional instrumentation.

They’ll play The Mission Window, no cover.

Check out the artists:

Ching Chong Song, Roreesa Video – which was shot in Pittsfield and conceived and edited by Huck Delsignore

Actor Rudi Bach, using the poems of Tony Hoagland, explores mundane questions and epic mysteries in this hour-long work being presented in partnership with The New Stage. The piece features actress Carrie Saldo and musician James Bill of Bella’s Bartok.

Purchase Tickets – $15.

What others have said about the work:

“In “Maybe you will marry a red haired woman” Tony Hoagland’s writing resonates with a peculiar sadness and humor of everyday eccentricities as Rudi Bach invites the audience into the poet’s world with a simple storyteller sense of discovery and wonder. Without overwhelming or commenting on the poetry, he brings Hoagland’s beautiful and heartbreaking words to life and transforms written word into theatre.”

- Gray Simons, Artistic Associate, Berkshire Theater Festival

“In ‘Maybe you will marry a red haired woman’ the brilliant poetry of Tony Hoagland is newly reinvented through a series of short vignettes — each portrayed expertly by performers Rudi Bach and Carrie Saldo. The work translates easily to the stage where it finds new footing and pulses with both exuberance and simplicity.”

- Sara Katzoff, Co-Founder/Artistic Director, Bazaar Productions/The Berkshire Fringe

Word x Word kicks-off with a super billing of Springsteen flavored rock, and rock flavored spoken word when Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers join Derrick Brown on stage at the Colonial one night only, Sunday 8/22. This show will cement WxW’s reputation as the party of the summer. Local faves, Mike and Ruthy (formerly of The Mammals) open the show touring their brand
new CD,  Million to One.

Buy Tickets to the show – $25 & $35.  Showtime, 7 PM

Check out the artists:

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, recording at Sun Studios …

Derrick Brown,  at Livewire Wordstock …

Mike & Ruthy, at Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday Celebration …

Tickets are SOLD OUT. Please have your ticket or pass in-hand when entering at 440 North Street to access the roof.

(Photo Credit- Bess Hochstein for Rural Intelligence)

Last year’s roof top gathering was dubbed the season’s “Hottest summer party” by Rural Intelligence reporter Bess Hochstein. This year is not to be missed …

Christine Ohlman, known as the “The Beehive Queen” and vocalist of the Saturday Night Live Band takes to the roof with songs from her latest release, The Deep End.

DJ Ryan Brown, a Pittsfield native turned Bostonian, will spin dance beats, the likes of which you’ve never heard before!

Narragansett Tall Boys, provided by Narragansett Beer, as well as Tapas and Spanish wines provided by Mission Bar + Tapas will, no doubt, add flavor and flare to the event.

Tickets, $30, available at Mission Bar + Tapas and The Market.

After this killer party, there’s no place to go but down ; )