AMHERST, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – A group of students in Amherst are helping build up their local music scene with big plans on the way, including a Woodstock-inspired festival next month.
The streets of Amherst have been walked by countless historic musicians, but now, one local music group is working to put the future at center stage. “It’s just a really great way to expand yourself musically, but connect on a level that you can hold for your whole life, really,” said Shanti Furtado with Local Mojo.
Founded in 2021 by Charlie Blacker, Local Mojo is currently headed by UMass students Danny Richard, Salvi LoGrasso, and Furtado, who are solidifying themselves at the forefront of the western Massachusetts music scene. Their mission is to provide a community and a platform for audiences and artists alike. “We’re connecting an audience to the artist, and the artist to the audience, and bringing everybody together all in one place or in multiple places at once, just like tonight,” LoGrasso added.
While locally, the over 15 bands they work with are booked weekly at venues including the Iron Horse and The Drake, expansion has become the name of the game. From Boston, to New York, to Philadelphia and beyond, Amherst isn’t the only town that can call their mojo, local.
“Bringing it to Boston right now was kind of our main goal. We wanted to develop ourselves over there,” said Danny Richard of Local Mojo. “But also, Penn State, there’s UNH. UNH just had an event last night that went really, really well.”
Singer Alex Nordlund from the Baxbys, a band with western Massachusetts ties, has experienced this firsthand, as he explained right before his show at The Drake. “They’ve been very helpful in just building a huge community in not only Amherst, but also Boston and other towns, and like, I think it’s just awesome,” he said.
Local Mojo’s next sights are set on one thing though: Mojofest, a self-made Hadley-based music festival that will host audiences from across the northeast, local vendors would sell sustainable products and art installations, and of course, a stacked setlist with Woodstock 1969 as a key inspiration. “We want to have that same thing. We want to create an experience that’s affordable for people to go to and captures that same sort of essence of really amazing live music,” Furtado explained.
Richard emphasized that, like any show of theirs, Mojofest is for all. “Mojofest is not just a college student thing,” he added. “It’s for everyone. Anyone who just enjoys music, enjoys that atmosphere, come on in. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
You can learn more about Local Mojo and Mojofest on their website, and stay in the loop for their latest shows by following them on Instagram @LocalMojoUMass.
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