SOUTHAMPTON – A virtual COVID-19 edition of The Valley Music Showcase – “The Best in Original Local Music” – will officially occur on May 28 from 7 to 10:45 p.m.

The event will mark the resumption of Season 5 of the showcase, which is designed to show off the best original music talent from Western and Central Massachusetts, as well as Central Connecticut and Southern Vermont.

Produced by Mark Sherry, it is a mini-music festival and juried live music competition. The showcase usually takes place every other month, but the structure had to change due to the pandemic in 2020. According to Sherry, all of Season 5 was postponed in 2020 until October, when they spearheaded a Valley Music Showcase during the beginning of that month. That was the only one they were able to do in all of 2020.

“We just continued Season 5 into this year because we couldn’t do indoors anyway, which meant that we couldn’t do a full season because we had to wait for good enough weather to do it outdoors,” said Sherry. “Between the two years, we’ll hopefully be able to fit one season.”

At each showcase, five bands and/or solo or duos drawn from all musical genres are selected to perform during each showcase event. They compete for about $1,000 of gift certificates and other prizes from various local sponsoring businesses.

The May 28 showcase will be filmed with no live audience at the Glendale Ridge Vineyards in Southampton. All performers will have their own stage and use their own equipment so as to follow social distancing guidelines. No equipment will allowed to be shared. Performers for the May 28 event include Southbridge pop/rock band Gracie Day & The Phantom Limbs; Greenfield rock/reggae band No Lens; Hartford psycho-punk rock artist Johnny Cab; Western Massachusetts funk and soul band Driving Wheel; and Belchertown pop-punk/alternative rock band GoldFlame.

According to Sherry, Scott MacPherson of Holyoke Media will helping with the filming production. “Normally, we do video the events,” said Sherry. “On a normal showcase, we’re obviously showing it to people who are mostly there. Now we’re doing a much more intensive video production. We’re doing this in a way that is as safe as possible for everyone.”

Each performer will have a 30-minute set, and the judges for the competition include Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle; Mark Ramone, DJ of WECS FM Willimantic, CT, and New Music Alliance Radio Hour; Stevie Converse, who is the faculty advisor for WCCH Radio; and music writer Sheryl Hunter. The awards ceremony will occur right after the performances on that May 28 night.

As the showcase has gained traction, Sherry told Reminder Publishing that many performers reach out to Valley Music Showcase about being in the competition.

“We have a lot of ways that we reach out now, especially since we run our own radio show that we do every week,” said Sherry, who added that the show is broadcasted on six different stations in the area. “That show is basically all original music from local Western New England artists…Every week, we’re going out searching for songs to play.”

The show is conducted by six different DJs, according to Sherry. “We all have lots of contacts with bands,” he said.

When he first started doing the showcase, Sherry said that he did not have a real solid feel for exactly how many musicians were out there. Through the radio show and constant exploration however, Sherry and the New Music Alliance organization have developed relationships with many performers in the area.

“We’ve been amazed at how much amazing music there is out there,” said Sherry.

Event winners from each individual showcase during Season 5 will compete for grand prizes at the end of the season that include free studio recording time at Northfire Studios in Amherst, a custom web design and photo shoot with Cider House Media in Easthampton, a recorded music video at Focus Springfield; a 12-hour music marketing consulting package, and “many hundreds of dollars in other prizes.”

Sherry added that the organization plans on having a showcase in July and October during this year. The May 28 online event is free, and people can stream it through zoom access here: http://us02web.zoom.us/j/89313620504. The showcase will also be available on Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/valleymusicshowcase and YouTube Live.