Blind Boys of Alabama to perform in Pittsfield

12:00AM / Monday, March 01, 2004Print Story | Email Story

Blind Boys

Pittsfield - The beautiful and spacious sanctuary of Pittsfieldâ€™s First Methodist Church will be filled with the Grammy award-winning sounds of the legendary Blind Boys of Alabama on Friday, March 26th at 8 pm. Opening for the Blind Boys will be the new roots/gospel/blues group Ollabelle, featuring Amy Helm, daughter of Levon Helm, an original member of the Band. The concert is Helsinki Productionsâ€™ first Pittsfield presentation and is in cooperation with the Colonial Theatre. Performing both traditional and contemporary songs that shake the rafters and lift hearts wherever they go, the Blind Boys of Alabama just received their third consecutive Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for their latest release, â€œGo Tell it on the Mountain,â€ which features an impressive lineup of guest musicians, including John Medeski, George Clinton, Chrissie Hynde, Shelby Lynne, Mavis Staples, and Tom Waits. Vanity Fair magazine called the record "a rousing new album with a staggering guest lineup." The other two Grammy awards were for their two previous albums, "Spirit of the Century," and "Higher Ground, " called "two of the most exciting CDs in blues, soul or gospel in recent years" by Billboard Magazine. The albums includes traditional gospel numbers as well as powerful new â€œgospelizedâ€ versions of songs by Prince, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Funkadelic, Jimmy Cliff and others. The Blind Boys of Alabama were founded over sixty years ago at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind. Recently inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, they have been embraced and celebrated by a whole new generation of performers. A concert film of their headline tour last year will be featured on PBS this fall, and they have toured with Peter Gabriel and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. "I was listening to the Blind Boys back in the Fifties," says Aaron Neville of the Neville Brothers. "My brothers and I used to walk down the street harmonizing, trying to sound like the Blind Boys. Their singing still sends chills down my spine - they've got that old soul!" The opening group Ollabelle was recently signed to Columbia Records by legendary producer T-Bone Burnett, who produced the bestselling â€œO Brother, Where Art Thou?â€ soundtrack album. A bright star of the recent roots music revival coming out of New Yorkâ€™s East Village music scene, Ollabelleâ€™s self-titled debut album is due in stores in March. The concertâ€™s proceeds will help benefit the First Methodist Churchâ€™s role as a home for many community groups in downtown Pittsfield, as well as the free weekly dinners it provides to community members in need. Other concerts in conjunction with Helsinki Productions are being planned as part of the churchâ€™s goal of serving as a performing arts center in downtown Pittsfield. Helsinki Productions is the concert-producing arm of Club Helsinki, a renowned local nightclub and restaurant in downtown Great Barrington, MA. The club and restaurant will be the subject of a full-color book entitled The Helsinki CafÃ© Cookbook, to be published by Storey Publishing this October. To purchase advance tickets to the concert, which are $32 general admission and $42 for premium seats, please call 413-528-3394. Pittsfieldâ€™s historic First Methodist Church is located at 55 Fenn Street between North and First Streets. For more information on the Blind Boys of Alabama, please visit their website at www.blindboys.com .

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MSBA: No Stearns in Proposed West Pittsfield School

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
02:40PM / Tuesday, November 10, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Stearns may not be part of the proposed consolidated West Side elementary school after all.

During the School Building Needs Commission meeting on Monday, the owner's project managers, Skanska, reported that the Massachusetts School Building Authority would not fund a three-school project.

Stearns Elementary School had been included in the feasibility study to see if Crosby Elementary, Conte Community School, and Stearns Elementary could all be located at 517 West St. All three school locations listed in the feasibility study had to be considered; Conte has several site challenges.

Project designers TSKP reviewed 12 different school options, and it was relayed that only the rebuilds of Crosby and Conte could be fully funded. Pittsfield would have to pay for Stearns.

"I also think it's important to look at long-term and affordability, and if we choose to keep Stearns in, we're going to make the decision to keep PHS out," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"The city cannot afford it all."

He added that he would vote "no" on Pittsfield High School if the city is doubling down on Stearns. The city is also pursuing a statement of interest to the MSBA to fund repairs to the high school, which is almost a century old.

"I'm not going to go to the taxpayers and say, 'give me two debt exclusions so we can build new schools,'" the mayor said.