Alex Pickert made the strenuous, cross-country move from Pleasanton, CA, to Boston to attend school at Berklee College of Music. Once he started to play in bands and book DIY shows, he never made the decision to turn back. 

“What started as helping friends book gigs in Allston basements eventually turned into Get To The Gig Boston,” Pickert explained, “where we’ve spent the last decade helping local artists find opportunities and building community around live music.” 

Get To The Gig Boston is an independent booking and promotion company that puts on hundreds of shows per year, under Pickert’s 15 or so years of experience in the Boston music scene. One of those shows is NICE, a fest, that took a year off last season and is back this summer, July 24 through July 26. NICE, a three-day music festival in Somerville, was organized to highlight the local music scene of Boston and the greater Boston area. The idea was born out of Pickert’s frustration with people saying that Boston didn’t have a music scene while Pickert was first-hand witnessing incredible bands play every week. 

“The scene has always existed; it just wasn’t being celebrated on a large enough scale,” he said.

The original goal of NICE was to create a festival that treated local bands like headliners. 

“We wanted to build something that felt like a hang of all the best bands in Boston’s community and give people a chance to discover just how much talent exists in their own backyard,” Pickert said. “More than anything, we wanted artists, fans, venues, and industry folks to feel connected to something bigger than themselves.” 

In the process of creating NICE, Pickert pays attention to what bands and artists are doing throughout the year and whether they’re actively participating in their local music community. When building the lineup of over 80 artists, Pickert tries to include a little bit of everything that’s happening across New England, with different genres and bands represented. 

“Talent obviously matters, but NICE has always been about more than streaming numbers or ticket sales,” Pickert clarified. “We look for artists who are putting in the work, supporting their peers, showing up to shows, and helping make the New England music scene stronger.”

NICE began in 2021, with a break in 2025. The break helped the team involved with Get To The Gig Boston think about what makes the festival successful long-term. The two hopes Pickert has for NICE are sustainability and strengthening the New England music ecosystem. There’s also been an appreciation developed for how much people in the greater Boston music scene care for each other. 

“Every year I’m blown away by how many artists, volunteers, venue staff, photographers, vendors, and fans show up because they believe in what we’re building,” Pickert expressed. “It means the world to me. There are so many NICE people that make this happen.” 

After their break last season, NICE is back with a bang. Fest-goers this year can expect gigantic vendor markets, after parties, drinks, laughs, and three days packed with incredible local music. They are even hosting a mixer event on the Thursday before the fest kicks off for opportunities to network. 

“[My hope] for attendees, in an ideal world, [is] someone who comes to see a local favorite will leave with ten new favorites,” he concluded. 

Interviewed on June 21, 2026