Jamaica Plain Music Festival 5th Year Anniversary

The Jamaica Plain Music Festival is about to celebrate its Fifth Year anniversary. With its humble beginning in 2010, this free concert held at Jamaica Pond with two performance stages is scheduled for Saturday, September 12. In the Boston area in the last year, there have been significant changes in the music scene with the announcements of TT the Bears Club in Cambridge and most recently Johnny D’s in Somerville announcing they will be closing, putting the music scene in a tighter squeeze. To talk about these issues, the JP Music Festival, its importance and relevance and some of the issues surrounding Boston’s current state of Live Music, I am joined by the founders of the JP Music Festival; Shamus Moynihan and Rick Berlin on The Ransom Note Podcast.

8/17/15

The Ransom Note Podcast announces the first of an eight part series featuring Rick Berlin and Shamus Moynihan; founders of the Jamaica Plain Music Festival. In part one “Hipster Hamster”, we discusses the Albino Squirrel Mascot by graphic design artist Justin McCarthy. The JP Music Festival in its first year, was seen as the “worst kept secret.” Due to advertising protocol at the time, the organizers were told they couldn’t advertise the event until they received all their permits by the city and getting the news out by word of mouth wasn’t going to draw the crowds. Justin McCarthy found a way through that. Designing the Logo of the Albino Squirrel, Shamus printed thousands of stickers with that image and hit the pavement with grass roots, gorilla marketing, putting that image on anything that it would stick to. From Cambridge to Concord, the “Hipster Hamster” made its debut. To believe in the Albino Squirrel is to believe in the X-Files, or other old time Yankee folklore but towards the end of the interview, one is lead to believe that sightings have been reported.