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• Folk duo Cloudbelly will join September 11 Song & Story Swap via Zoom
• Mount Toby Concerts resume in Leverett in September

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Cloudbelly will join September 11 Song & Story Swap via Zoom

Please come share in an evening of music and stories at the Pioneer Valley Folklore Society Song & Story Swap.

Viewers may also watch the event via YouTube Livestream beginning at 7pm ET on September 11.

The featured performers at the September 11 online Song & Story Swap will be the folk collaboration Cloudbelly.

Corey Laitman and Anand Nayak connected while playing separately on the bill at Luthier’s Coop in Easthampton, MA. Finding a mutual chemistry in their music, the two were soon applying their creative energies to Corey's 2018 project, Seafoam."

Originally from Westchester County, New York, Corey Laitman found their muse in Western Massachusetts and set down roots. Corey's singer-songwriting talents led to being chosen an NPR Tiny Desk recipient and being awarded a formal showcase at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance conference. A pet parakeet inspired the duo's name.

Anand Nayak has earned a stellar reputation as a guitarist, producer and songwriter. For two decades he has been guitarist for the popular Americana-folk band Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem. He has performed and produced five award-winning CDs with the children's music act Stevesongs, and was co-writer of more than 30 of their songs commissioned by PBS Kids. His work on Alastair Moock’s Singing Our Way Through was nominated for a 2013 Grammy award. Anand has toured with numerous artists including Polly Fiveash, Jeffrey Foucault, Lui Collins, Heather Maloney and Pamela Means.

As Cloudbelly the pair has recently teamed up to create their first album, Thou/Them, which according to WBUR "shimmers with shades of Joni Mitchell in Laitman’s vocals, and an overall dreamy Cowboy Junkies Zen-out vibe."

The Song & Story Swap is fortunate to host Cloudbelly on September 11, in between their stops at fabled folk venues Club Passim and Cafe Nine.

The September 11 Song & Story Swap will be conducted as a Zoom online meeting, with registration required. To register for the event please go to https://pvfs.us/register-for-swap. The Zoom event is limited to 100 attendees.

Learn more about Cloudbelly at cloudbellytheband.com.

This month’s opening round theme is New Beginnings

The Song & Story Swap is held on the first Saturday of each month, excepting August (and this month), and is jointly sponsored by the Pioneer Valley Folklore Society and the Nacul Center. Visit the Folklore Society website at pvfs.us.

The Song & Story Swap is open to the public, free of charge with donations accepted ($5 - $10 is suggested). Donations to the featured performer may be made securely via credit card or Paypal at https://pvfs.us/donate.

People of all ages gather to share stories and songs that are traditional, newly written, or of personal experiences. You can tell, sing, or lead everyone in singing, or request a song or story. Listeners are welcome.

For information contact Paul Kaplan, (413)-687-5002 or visit https://pvfs.us.

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Mount Toby Concerts begin again

Mount Toby Concerts has announced the resumption of its monthly concert series at the Mt. Toby Friends Meeting House, 194 Long Plain Road in Leverett, Mass. Kicking off on Sept. 18 will be our own singer-songwriter Paul Kaplan. In the interest of safety, the concert will begin at 2pm and attendees must be vaccinated.

Planned for October and November are Ordinary Elephant and Joe Jencks. For more info contact Diane Crowe or visit Mount Toby Concerts.

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