Mad Love Music Festival to benefit young musicians to rock Hingham on Sunday
HINGHAM – The eighth annual Mad Love Music Festival will return to South Shore Conservatory from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9.
Coyote Island will headline a lineup of award-winning musicians including the Aldous Collins Band, the Quins, Gracie Grace and All the Good Boys, Chase Stebbins and the Only Knows and Overnight. Proceeds from the event will go to the Dave Jodka Scholarship for Future Rockers.
Mad Love was founded by Kathleen Jodka to honor the memory and legacy of her husband, Dave, who died in 2014 shortly after his cancer diagnosis.
"When my husband was growing up, he was always part of a garage band," Jodka said. "I remember him saying how he wished they had a mentor or coach to help them, not solely with the music, but with the other stuff as well."
The Future Rockers scholarship aims to fill that void.
Recipients join a band of five high school students from across the South Shore and are paired with a mentor from the South Shore Conservatory's Jazz, Rock and Pop Department. They receive music lessons and help with songwriting, marketing, booking, gigging and designing and selling merchandise. As older students graduate, the band transforms as new members with different skills and personalities come and go.
"It's a constantly evolving sound and identity, which is supercool both for the kids in the band and for us, their biggest fans," Jodka said.
Overnight drummer and scholarship recipient Patrick Hale, 16, described his band's sound as "dreamy, indie, shoegaze – a mix of multiple genres." Shoegaze refers to the use of heavy pedal effects, which causes performers to look down at their shoes while playing.
Hale said he has learned a lot over his two years with the band, especially about working with other people.
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"Spending so much time with four other people, there’s bound to be conflict. We learn how to overcome that and collaborate and become stronger," he said.
The Aldous Collins Band's sound includes funk, rock, reggae and jam band elements. The band has performed at all eight Mad Love Festivals since 2015. Band leader Aldous Collins said he's grateful for the chance to collaborate with musicians and festival organizers for a good cause.
"There's something about this festival that speaks to me personally," Collins said. "I love the name of it, Mad Love. We all want to be madly passionate about loving life and celebrating people, and this festival does that."
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Jodka said she's "super-psyched" both for the lineup of musicians and all the vendors and sponsors supporting the event. In addition to music, there will be family-friendly activities, food trucks and local breweries. There will even be a Mad Love IPA on offer, developed in conjunction with Untold Brewing.
"There's an energy there," Jodka said. "It's tangible and hard to put into words. It's an awesome reminder of the power of music and the ability to heal, the power of community and friendship."
Tickets are $35 for adults, $20 for students and $10 for children. They can be purchased at madlovemusicfestival.org or at the door.
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Reach Peter Blandino at pblandino@patriotledger.com.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Mad Love Music Festival at Hingham's South Shore Conservatory
