The Local Connection: OPEN MIC and Music Networking Event at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston on Sunday March 27th, was a tremendous success. With over 250 attendees, 9 local music industry keynote speakers and over 40 performers signed up and took the stage. We want to thank everyone for participating in our first large capacity event since before the pandemic. Everyone felt the excitement of finally getting out, reconnecting and performing.
Meet our Keynote Speakers.
Michael Morrissey produces musical events raising money and awareness for Baby Safe Haven New England. Baby Safe Haven created designated facilities where parents can legally surrender newborn infants under 7-days-old without facing criminal prosecution. Safe havens throughout New England include hospitals, police stations, and manned fire stations. Michael is a major supporter of local musicians of all levels and genres. He is currently booking singer-songwriters for an upcoming event. Email babysafehaven@aol.com to learn more here.
Jass Bianchi is the founder and Ceo of Color In Sound, LLC. They specialize in servicing local, international and award-winning clientele with business, design, marketing, public relations, tech, and advertising services. Jass is an award-winning rapper, communications visionary, and media designer with 15+ years experience in the communications, music, and arts industries. As a mental health advocate, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur, she’s featured in acclaimed blogs and interviewed by various radio stations both nationally and internationally. She’s guest appeared in films, music videos, and comedy improv sketches. Jass dedicates her life to empowering artists by offering an array of opportunities. Learn more.
John Shea is the Music and Service Director at 95.9 FM WATD. Dedicated to New England musicians, John provides them a platform in his curated weekly show, Almost Famous. Airing every Tuesday night from 8pm-10pm, he interviews musicians and they perform original music in-studio. In addition, John shares the local music gigging schedule and chats with industry gurus about the music scene. Since 2011, Almost Famous received awards and nominations from The Massachusetts Broadcasters Association, The Boston Music Awards, The New England Music Awards, and The Limelight Music Awards. Want to hear your songs on the radio? Get in touch with John at JohnShea@959watd.com. Learn more here.
Bailey Kolapudi runs Beezlo Music, a booking management company that manages live entertainment at venues like Lorettas Last Call, Nashbar, Verb, Lansdowne Pub, and more. As a touring musician with over fifteen years of performing experience, Bailey understands the inner workings of the performance industry and fits the right artist with any venue. Bailey is passionate about putting local talented musicians of all ages on stage. Contact her at hello@beezlomusic.com for performance considerations and check out Beezlo Music here.
Mark Roberge, a veteran in the music industry, is co-founder and CEO of Bamrock Entertainment, an entertainment holding company that oversees the creative agency, Red 13 Creative production studio, Red 13 Studios and label, and Red 13 Records. Roberge’s expertise guide aspiring artists and creatives looking to gain momentum and maintain an audience in the entertainment industry. He was a driving force in helping his band Prospect Hill gross a six-figure income self-sufficiently by handling all of their own touring, merchandising, licensing deals, and album release strategies. As a producer and songwriter, Roberge took part in multiple projects that garnered recognition on The Billboard charts, achieving millions of downloads and streams across all platforms. Learn more about Red13 Studios here.
Ned Wellbery aka Leedz, the founder of Leedz Edutainment just celebrated 17 years in business and expanded into a full service Hip Hop Entity offering a broad range of artist development services. After throwing his first event in 2004, Leedz worked his way up to become the General Manager and talent buyer at the Middle East Nightclub. He booked major acts such as Kendrick Lamar, Logic, G-Eazy, Machine Gun Kelly, Wu Tang Clan and more. Ned has a strong passion for the entire music-making process and believes every artist and brand has a unique story that needs an effective strategy in order to increase their awareness and gain supporters. For more information, check out Leedz Edutainment.
Robert McCarthy is the Founder and manager of Five By Two Records, a Boston-based not-for-profit music label providing studio engineering/mixing/mastering, music distribution, music-based content creation, live session recordings, and concert bookings/promotions for local and touring musicians. Born out of a need to define a common label for multiple youth acts stemming from the same family, Five By Two Records satisfies that need. The McCarthy family, a group of five youth musicians, continues to create a growing catalogue of original music and unique takes on cover songs that demand a common label. This label currently represents the following acts: Circus Trees, Pillbook PLBK, The Light Inside Me Is Dead, Evil Felipe, and more. Check out Five By Two Records here.
The Local Connection: Open Mic and Music Networking Event is a monthly program created by Next Generation Concerts. We offer a network of opportunities for both musicians, poets and music industry professionals. Our next Local Connection is Sunday, April 24th. To attend please register here.
1 Comment
Donna
Jackie,
Thank you for all the wonderful opportunities that you give young aspiring artists. You are an inspiration. We are so glad to be part of your journey in music.