Prepare for a night of live music and dancing as the St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s fourth-annual Mulberry Music Festival returns with a line-up of musicians to perform this Friday, June 16, and kick off the Juneteenth weekend.
Created by St. Mary’s College President Tuajuanda Jordan, the festival is held annually on the weekend of Juneteenth. It will include four performances from musically-diverse groups, including headlining band The JoGo Project.
“D.C.’s Queen of Blues” and St. Mary’s College alumna Carly Harvey will act as the master of ceremonies for a third year and finish her first year as a curator for the event. She was excited to help pick the musicians and determine who had the best “energetic fit” for the festival.
“This year we have a really cool lineup,” Harvey said. “We’ve got The JoGo Project as our headliners and they’re like jazz-fusion. We’ve got the Boneshakers, who are a blues-rock group based out of L.A. and we happened to catch them on their tour.” Keyboardist and composer Kevin Howard will also be performing, as well as the band Oh He Dead, an indie-soul fusion band based in Washington, D.C.
In past years, the festival had musicians who only performed a specific genre such as jazz or gospel, but organizers decided to welcome any sound this year, Harvey said. The festival will also have new vendors selling jewelry and art.
