Mattapoisett native and musician Ben Burns knows music festivals. He’s played Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival and Boston Calling Music Festival to name a few.

But while he knows music festivals, maybe not everyone at music festivals know him. So it's a pretty big deal that recently he played at one of the biggest music festivals in America.

His band Honeysuckle was invited to take the stage at Lollapalooza in Chicago in August.

The festival featured a variety of acts, from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Ellie Goulding to J. Cole. Honeysuckle brought a different sound to the stage.

“We’re a folk trio,” Burns said. “People have called it progressive folk, which I may or may not agree with."

The trio consists of a guitar, a banjo and a mandolin. Burns said the mandolin player runs a lot of his sounds through effect pedals to alter the sound, which isn't common among traditional instruments. Hence, progressive.

The band formed in the members' first years at Berklee College of Music, and secured the slot at the festival through the school.

The trio, comprised of Burns, Holly McGarr and Chris Bloniarz, worked with the student-run record label at Berklee.

The label’s faculty advisor, Jeff Dorenfeld, had connections with promoters at Lollapalooza and been given a slot for a Berklee band of his choice. This year, it was Honeysuckle.

“[Dorenfeld] picks about ten bands a year and sends them to different festivals,” Burns said. “We got picked for Lollapalooza because he knows what bands would be a good fit where.”

Despite the band’s experience playing other festivals, Burns said this one was different for them.

“It was crazy because it was in the middle of Chicago, so there’s like a hundred thousand people there every day” he said. “It’s a lot of people and it’s just a different vibe. It’s more trendy and the acts are more electronic and danced based. There was definitely more of a party vibe to Lollapalooza.”

To better mesh the festival’s wild vibe with the trio’s folk sound, Burns said the band did make some adjustments.

“We hired a bass player and a drummer, which we don’t usually have,” he said. “We just needed to make it loud enough.”

All three members of the group have now graduated from Berklee and are formulating their next steps.

“The idea is that in January or February we’re going to look to move, maybe to Nashville. Or maybe to Portland, Oregon. We’re looking to relocate to a place that’s more affordable and where we’ll have easier access to touring,” said Burns.

In between gigs, he is working with at a masonry company in western Massachusetts.

“I’m saving up slowly to buy a van to maybe retrofit to live in because it’s easiest to tour if you’re living in the vehicle,” he said. “So we’re working on getting a vehicle and making a record and figuring out what we want to do with our lives.”

And while they may not know exactly what’s next, Burns knows the band will continue to play together and that he’s lucky to be doing what he’s doing.

“I just feel blessed all the time,” he said. “ I just feel really privileged to grow up with the opportunity where this could even be viable as a career…We’re always trying to stay humble and not take things for granted and just enjoy the ride while it lasts.”