Central Iowa has its own version of the Partridge Family — minus the bad TV show, psychedelic van and cheesy music, of course.

Little Mojo consists of brothers Josh Sinclair, guitarist and Nick Sinclair, percussionist. Josh and Nick’s love for music became apparent at an early age when Nick learned to play percussion at 15, and Josh learned chords and scales on the guitar at 11.

Nick brings a variety of percussion styles to the drum kit, with a blend of blues, funk, Latin and jazz, while Josh likes to perform lap slide guitar and harmonica. This combination of styles has helped Little Mojo create an acoustic sound similar to various singer/songwriter bands currently on the radio.

“We have an acoustic rock sound, similar to Dashboard [Confessional], Ben Harper and Jason Mraz,” Josh says.

“We try to put our own twist, however.”

Although the brothers joined forces to form Little Mojo just a short time ago, they have been able to build quite the fanbase, touring nationally, opening for major acts and playing music festivals.

“We have been playing together for over five years.” Josh says.

“We have toured nationally the last three years, and we have been able to open for Coolio and Shannon Curfman.”

In order for the duo to develop a large enough fanbase to become a national act, Sinclair says they had to do a lot of work and explore a variety of avenues.

“We started an e-mail list letting everybody know when and where we were playing next and we put our songs on college radio,” Josh says.

When college radio began to give Little Mojo’s songs airtime, the band noticed its fanbase begin to grow. It was this growth that helped Little Mojo to become the national act it is today.

“‘Broken,’ off of our new album [“Trip the Light Fantastic”], has received a lot of play on college radio,” Josh says.

Another method that allowed Little Mojo to develop a strong fan base is by including various videos and mp3s, culled from studio albums and live performances, on its Web site. Josh says this inclusion has allowed fans to sample the music and not have to go to a concert cold turkey.

Even though Little Mojo has become a national act, Josh and Nick still both love to play to Iowa crowds. Josh says they try to make it to Ames to play once every few months.

Next Thursday, Little Mojo will be performing in ISU 20’s studio for a future broadcast. The filming will take place from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and will consist of a question and answer session and a performance of a few songs.

With all of this success, Josh would love to see Little Mojo perform at more music festivals. Josh says concert festivals, such as Bonaroo, held annually in Tennessee, are great for up-and-coming artists who are trying to get noticed. Plus, Josh says, he loves the total immersion into the music for a weekend.

“The vibe is just incredible at festivals such as Bonaroo,” Josh says.