SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - June is African American Music Appreciation Month, a time to recognize the sounds that have shaped our nation’s history. Right here in Springfield, that history is being kept alive through a celebration of culture and community.

It’s the heartbeat of the city, from the smooth notes of a saxophone to the steady thump of a bass guitar, music in Springfield is more than just entertainment.

June is a month for celebration – celebrating pride, our fathers, the arrival of summer, and our heritage – black heritage to be exact. This June we’re celebrating African American Music Appreciation Month.

Formerly known as Black Music Month – this month is celebrated across the country to remember the influence black music has had on American culture.

“Springfield has a strong black or African American community and this festival honors that, the legacy of black creativity and resilience that is expressed through music, through jazz and blues and funk and soul and gospel and Afro-Caribbean traditions,” Kristen Neville is the founder of the non-profit blues to green – who host the annual Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival in Springfield’s historic Court Square.

Although the festival is technically in July, Neville said it’s a tribute to the African Diaspora and a reminder that even in times of struggle, music provided a way to find joy and maintain a connection to one’s roots.

Local artists like K’Shawn Harris who goes by the stage name D.J. Boogy has been DJ-ing since 2010. He told Western Mass News that he learned about Springfield’s deep musical heritage from his father who was a former bass musician for a local Motown cover band, “So from what I was told when I was younger, everybody came through Springfield. From Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, all the greats like that. And then continuing on, because we had such a rich culture of music from all the bands that were here already.

He now spins at venues locally and even internationally – mainly focusing on the genres that are being celebrated this June, “definitely R&B. I love my Caribbean music, hip-hop. A lot of everything, but R&B is definitely like the soul of what I do,” Harris said.

Whether it’s a world-class trumpeter doing their best Louis Armstrong impersonation or a local D.J., the goal is the same—to celebrate a spirit that refuses to be broken.

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