They say that legacies live fast and die hard. When it comes to music legacies in and around Charleston, this is certainly true.

Local Charleston bands like Andy Van Slyke, Little Boy Jr., and Mugwump Specific were able to perform regularly throughout college; but after graduation, band members move away or get jobs and suddenly finding the time to perform is impossible.

The Woodchuck Festival of Music and Art, which starts today at the Fire Lake Music Venue and runs through Saturday night, features several bands playing together either for the first time in a while or last time forever.

The Woodchuck Festival of Music and Art was founded in 2009 by several Eastern students and Charleston residents to provided a place for Charleston musicians to have a place to play. The festival’s mission is to raise awareness in individuals and in the Charleston community by way of art and music, and sharing the power to create change, according to the event’s Facebook page.

Bob Schroeder, a senior applied engineering and technology major, and bass player for Little Boy Jr., said Woodchuck will be the only Charleston show LBJ will be playing this year.

“Our guitar player Joe Courtney graduated, along with our keyboard player Matt Camponera, and they’re up in Chicago,” Schroeder said. “This may be the last time we play in Charleston for a long time. But for now, we’re having fun.”

Matt Schumake, an Eastern graduate and bass player for Andy Van Slyke, said even though it will be their farewell show, he still expects to put on the best show possible.

“There’s a couple of people that have moved on, our drummer is working in Chicago right now,” Schumake said. “It was time for something new.”

Schumake said that the the quality of the show will not be any different from other shows they have done.

Che Frederick, an Eastern graduate and drummer for Mugwump Specific, said Woodchuck is bringing the band back together.

“We’ve been together two to three years, and our guitarists have moved up toward Chicago, so it makes writing new material seem impossible,” Frederick said. “We’re back together playing our old tunes, and hope it will be a good experience.”

Frederick said coming back together will be a lasting memory for him and the band, and said they made a collective effort to bring the band back together.

“I’m hoping a lot of the younger EIU kids come out and see this thing,” Frederick said. “I look at this too as a way of passing the torch onto the younger generation.”

Robert Zordani, harmonica player for Mugwump Specific and a professor of English, said the reunion is for Woodchuck and Square Fest, but said they are in talks of hopefully making things permanent, but only Woodchuck and Square Fest are indeed set in stone for Mugwump Specific.

As far as being a college music town, music legacies will live and die, but they will be remembered forever in the hearts of the fans.