Jack Waldheim grew up with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson on the turntable, his mother’s collection out of a house in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, and that particular lineage shows in how he has always treated the song: something to shape carefully, then let breathe. He spent roughly seventeen years working the counter at Wood Brothers music shop in Pittsfield before the writing took over, and he went on to collaborate with Pete Adams of Cobble Mountain Band, one of those same mother-approved records. On Monday, December 21, Waldheim and the Criminal Hearts bring their 2026 Monday Music Project residency at The Stationery Factory to its final night. The series has run every Monday since March; this is the last one.
About the Show
The Monday Music Project is built around a premise most concert series would never put in the copy. Waldheim and drummer Chris Mattoon (the working core of the Criminal Hearts) describe themselves as “a seasoned band seeking new fertile ground to mine,” and the format follows from that: any given Monday might bring a polished set of originals, a night of covers they love, new material in progress, or something started from scratch in front of whoever walks through the door. The band regularly expands to include players on pedal steel, piano, bass, brass, and saxophone, and Waldheim’s songwriting has always had range enough to hold them. His work crosses folk, blues, country, rock, and funk, with spoken-word and poetic interludes sewn through the seams. His third studio album, After the Revolution, was a 30-track double-disc set recorded at home and released on Crazy Jane Records, a label he runs himself, down to the album art and CD pressing. “When I knew no one else was going to do it for me and do it well,” he told the Berkshire Eagle. December 21 is the final Monday of the season.
Venue & Logistics
The Stationery Factory in Dalton occupies the former Crane & Co. stationery division, an adaptive reuse industrial space now home to more than 20 local businesses, including a brewery, a restaurant, and a distillery alongside the event and performance spaces. Dalton is within reach of the capital region for listeners making the drive west into the Berkshires. The North Room runs professional sound and lighting in a flexible 8,000-square-foot hall with a 32-by-20-foot stage. The show starts at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets
This is a free show, no cover charge, and the Monday Music Project has run that way all year. Tips are welcome. The Stationery Cafe has espresso, organic popcorn, and light snacks available. Buy tickets