OUR STORY
How Mojo’s grassroots music mission spread from the UMass dorms across the country
Mojo is born
Born in November 2021 in the Southwest dorms of UMass Amherst, Mojo started when Charley Blacker decided to create a centralized hub for the local music scene.
The mission was to interview bands, shoot music videos, plan events and foster a creative community. He brought two of his friends, Cashel Davis & Jack Krause, to work on the project and the three of them created the name Local Mojo.
Shortly after, Emily Donovan & Alex Parker quickly became leaders within Mojo. A community of music lovers began to form and the platform continued to grow.
Early Events
As the Mojo audience grew, we started hosting events around Amherst. DIY shows in basements with stages made of palettes, ticketed shows in concert halls, boiler room style DJ sets in restaurants. Mojo convinced venues to build permanent stages to host local bands.
Then in 2024, Mojo stepped it up a notch. A ~2,000 person DIY Woodstock-inspired festival in an Amherst backyard. All about peace, love & real good music. People nationwide tuned into Mojo’s mission of making music experiences truly authentic & less commercialized. Mojo knew the following year we would need a larger venue to support the growing crowd.
Mojo’s Expansion
Mojo’s mission started gaining attention nationwide. People from across the country began reaching out to Mojo to create their own community. These communities now host weekly events and give local musicians a platform.
Mojo communities now exist in Boston, MA; Amherst, MA; State College, PA; Columbia, SC; Boulder, CO, and Durham, NH.
The First Large Scale Festival
In 2025, Mojo went all in on the mission with no financial backing. We decided to organize a large-scale music festival in a Western Mass field.
We showed the unpolished process of making the event happen and it picked up a lot of traction online.
Booking strictly local musicians, close to 5,000 people came out in the pouring rain to support the local grassroots music mission.
The festival was a massive success.
The Rise of Mojo Boston
In 2025, Mojo moved its HQ to South Boston with a goal to spread their grassroots mission to a major city. We began organizing pop-up house music events in unconventional venues across the city. Mojo popped up in UFC gyms, pickleball courts, art galleries, Irish pubs and more.
Mojo became the talk of the city.
Mojo Festival Tour Spring ‘26
In the Spring of 2026, Mojo organized three major festivals across the northeast in four weeks. Going up the country alongside the Morrissey Blvd boys.
The inaugural Mojofest Happy Valley brought in close to 5,000 people through hurricane like wind and rain. Mojofest Amherst was a big success in its second legit year.
Then the grand finale came at Mojo Boston at City Hall Plaza. Through yet another downpour, around 5,000 people came to see the best of Boston’s local bands & DJs on two stages. We also brought in the hottest up & coming names in indie & house; The Gringos, The Bends, Discip & AC Slater ripped up downtown Boston.
It was the first event of its kind in Boston. Mojo Boston’s success and great working relationship with the city is leading to more opportunities for pop-ups and festivals to take place in the city.
What’s Next
Mojo’s story is just beginning. There is no slowing down.
Our grassroots music movement is accelerating across the country.
Local music deserves a platform and people deserve authentic experiences. Through festivals, concerts, pop-ups and more, Mojo is working tirelessly to give local music communities the platform they deserve.
We’re here to prove that young people with no financial backing can build something special. No money in the world can buy authenticity.
Stay tuned. You’ll see a whole lot more of us real soon. Here’s to real good local music.
