“I want to use my platform with purpose and produce art with substance. Socio-politically, it’s a turbulent time and all the more important to use one’s voice.” - Pamela Means

“When Pamela Means picks up her guitar and begins to sing, a listener doesn’t forget her. She possesses musical attitude and purpose.” - Steven Winters, WSHU Radio

Pamela Means views her music as both an artistic and political outlet—to her, the two are interwoven in the fabric of her lyrics and intricate guitar work. Her songs, although sometimes musing on softer matters of the heart, are often rallying cries for justice and racial equality. Oregon Live proclaimed that Means' vocals are “hard-wired to her heart: emotional, raw, angry when it needs to be, yet supple and warm as an embrace. The truth may not always be pretty, but Means is a stunningly effective messenger.”

Plainfield (2016), her eighth independent album, is a solo acoustic live-in-the-studio recording. Plainfield is titled for the rural Massachusetts town where she wrote all of the album’s material during a self-exiled tour hiatus, plumbing the depths of songwriting, pausing to “press rewind and reflect on my foolishness and regret” (“On My Own”), resurfacing with over 100 new songs, ten of which find a home on Plainfield.

The Pamela Means Band is comprised of Pamela Means (guitar, vocal), Cinamon Blair (bass, vocal), Iréne 'I-Shea' Shaikly (percussion, vocal)

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Means moved to Boston in the 1990s to take part in the city’s thriving music scene, making a mark with her politically-charged third album, Cobblestones. Since then, she has independently released four more albums and toured internationally, sharing the stage with the likes of Ani DiFranco, Pete Seeger, Neil Young, Indigo Girls, Joan Baez, Howard Zinn, Angela Davis, Eve Ensler, David Strathairn, Shawn Colvin, Richie Havens, Patty Larkin, Melissa Ferrick, Violent Femmes, Television, The Radiators, Adrian Belew, Leo Kottke, Janis Ian, and many more. Means has performed at major music festivals and has also composed for and licensed music to PBS, independent filmmakers, and folkpoet Alix Olson’s multi-award-winning film and CD projects.

Tickets are $12 in advance through Eventbrite. Online sales end September 28th at 5pm, after which any remaining tickets will be available at the door for $15. Service fees apply.

Sponsored by:

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

We are grateful to the Helen Blatz of Edward Jones for her support of our 2017-2018 Season.

Sound equipment generously sponsored by Downtown Sounds.

We are grateful to the Law Office of Peter Irvine for its support of our 2017-2018 Season.