Observational comedian Katie Hannigan brings her pop-culture-laced standup to the Comedy Garage at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Mass., on Thursday, Jan 9, at 7:30pm. Based in New York City, Hannigan – who is also an actor and writer — has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central, the Travel Channel, Oxygen Network and MTV. As an actress, Katie has been featured in Pop Sugar, The Jerry O Show, Vice, CollegeHumor, and many indie productions.

 

Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, led by Grammy Award-nominated fiddler Bruce Molsky, brings the next generation of roots players, including guitar genre-bender Stash Wyslouch (Deadly Gentlemen) and master of the clawhammer banjo, Allison de Groot (The Goodbye Girls) together for an audacious, joyful and compelling musical journey at the Towne Crier Cafe in Beacon, N.Y., on Friday, Jan 10, at 8:30pm.

 

The Poussette-Dart Band brings its classic 1970s style of folk-rock music to the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., on Friday, Jan 10, at 8pm

 

Authors Lynne Sachs, Amy Rigby, Hallie Goodman, and Lee Ann Brown are featured in the free Volume Reading Series at Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson on Saturday, January 11, at 7pm.

 

The Williams College Department of Music presents I/O Fest ’19, it free, annual, four-day festival of  new music, from Thursday, Jan. 16 through Sunday, Jan. 19 at various venues in Williamstown.

 

Singer-songwriter Jesse Harris, best known for writing several of Norah Jones’s greatest hits, brings his newest all-instrumental project, Cosmo, to the Egremont Barn on Fri, Jan 17, at 8pm. Blending folk, soul, Brazilian and rock music, Cosmo is instrumental pop in the classic tradition of Burt Bacharach, with Harris’ indelible stamp.

Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney will share his creative process illustrating his new book, A Place to Land (written by Barry Wittenstein), about Martin Luther King Jr. and how he came to write his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech, at Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., on Saturday, Jan 18 at 1pm.

 

Acclaimed sister folk-pop duo The Nields are at Spencertown Academy in Spencertown, N.Y., in its Roots & Shoots Concert series on Saturday, January 18 at 8pm. Nerissa and Katryna are known for their hook-heavy folk-pop tunes and their close sisterly harmonies.

 

Electronic artist and drummer Ian Chang collaborates with visual duo Endless Endless to create a mesmerizing world of integrated sound, light, and projection in Club B10 at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday, January 18 at 8pm.

 

The Cantilena Chamber Choir will present its annual Martin Luther King Concert with a special tribute to Rep. Elijah Cummings at Trinity Church in Lenox, Mass., on Sun, Jan 19, at 3pm. Special guests include a return appearance by the Urban Choral Arts Society from Baltimore. Dr. King will be remembered in a combined choir performance of Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass and the choral music of composer Adolphus Hailstork. Members of the Baltimore Choir will give a special tribute to the late Rep. Elijah Cummings through personal testimonies.