Headliners

Songs of joy

Currently an Easthampton resident, Christa Joy was "born in the sticks" and "raised by good folks," then "grew up and ventured into unknown territories," such as northern California. However, "western Massachusetts is my home" and "my songwriting emerges from the lives of people I know and love," as well as from "the natural world, the seasons and braving New England winters. I relate to honest lyrics, simple melodies and ordinary moments that wake us up each day." Those last words could serve as description of what you'll find on Joy's first album, "Ready or Not": 12 wonderfully spare and expertly arranged songs about facing loss and discovering life, delivered in a voice whose purity recalls that of early Judy Collins. The album was produced, engineered and mastered in Joy's native Sheffield, a Berkshire hamlet in which, she says, "there are lots of antique shops and lots of cows" and also "many beautiful things, including a little studio called 'Off the Beat-n-Track.' The person who runs this studio, Todd Mack, is a wonderful musician, person and creative thinker."

Clubland: Melodic architect G.T. Thomas orchestrates debut CD

If you want to be dazzled by the sweeping, soaring possibilities of what a pop song can do, G.T. Thomas is your magician. Her key lyric seems to be "you know what happens when you follow your heart" - you get music like this.

Advanced Bookings

Paul Anka - Fri., May 25, 8 p.m., Foxwoods. $45-$65. foxwoods.com

Michael Franti and Spearhead - Thurs., May 31, 8 p.m., Calvin Theatre, Northampton. $35. 586-8686, iheg.com

Bill Maher - Fri., June 1, 8 p.m., Foxwoods. $35-$55. foxwoods.com

Lindsey Buckingham - Sat., June 2, 8 p.m., Calvin Theatre, Northampton. $35, $45. 586-8686, iheg.com

Track Record

Heroes

Willie Nelson

Sony Legacy, $8.89

Weekend Planner - Music

Written in 1796 after Austria had suffered various defeats by the French at battles in Italy and Germany, Haydn's "Mass in Time of War" - the 10th of his 14 settings of the Mass and subsequently the most popular - reflects the sense of foreboding that pervaded the nation as it stood on the verge of invasion by Napoleon, particularly in the nervous phrasing for the soloists in the Bene

Village People lead singer prevails in copyright claim

LOS ANGELES (AP) - When it comes to compiling a list of the great songwriters of the past 50 years, Victor Willis' name likely wouldn't merit more than an asterisk.

Far better known as the cop in the novelty disco act the Village People, Willis is also remembered for a number of drug-related troubles in the early 2000s that nearly up-ended his post-Village People days.

Making music - and a difference - in Holyoke

"My vision was to have a multi-generational, multi-genre celebration of the healing power of music," said Dave Madeloni, describing the live performance series he curates, the Third Wednesday Experience.