Cloudbelly

• Alt Folk

Cloudbelly is an award-winning indie-folk & chamber-pop band from Western MA with a sound that is at once intimate and cinematic.

The group is fronted by singer-songwriter Corey Laitman, a former member of the NYC antifolk scene and Signature Sounds record label, whose ethereal poeticisms are delivered in a spellbinding voice that tips its cap to Sufjan Stevens and Joni Mitchell in equal measure. Laitman is joined by guitarist and ambient sound sculptor Sam Perry (SVIP), bassist and backing vocalist (and killer-solo artist in her own right) Ciarra Fragale, and drummer, producer, and sound mangler Nate Mondschein (who often works under the moniker of Best Mann)

Cloudbelly’s music has been recognized by the Kerrville New Folk Competition, New Song at Citizen Vinyl, WBUR Tiny Desk Roundup, and Signature Sounds Record Label, and their most recent release i know i know i know was hailed by The Boston Globe as one of the best records of 2024. The band has played Green River Festival, Arcadia Folk Fest, and Meadowlark Festival, sharing the stage with Fleet Foxes, Bonny Light Horseman, Cake, Sean Rowe, Josh Ritter, and many others.

Remi Goode

Things I’ve Said Before, the debut album from Remi Goode, is an introduction to an indie-folk artist who straddles the borders between different worlds. A nylon-string guitarist with classical training and contemporary influences, she creates her own version of modern-day American roots music: one that’s intimate one minute and cinematic the next, making room for folky bedroom recordings, full-band studio performances, and all points in between.

For Remi (pronounced “RAY-mee”), everything began in Tucson, Arizona, where she grew up listening to artists like Suzanne Vega, Kathleen Edwards, and Sarah Harmer. Those songwriters used folk music as a springboard for a wider sound, and Remi was soon following in their footsteps, combining her academic training — from classical guitar lessons to her vocal performances as a member of the acclaimed Tucson Girls Chorus — with an interest in charting new musical ground. She found a like-minded musician in fellow guitar student Gabe Lehrer, kickstarting a longtime partnership in music, romance, and life. Years later, when Remi began recording Things I’ve Said Before in studios and bedrooms stretching from Arizona to her adopted hometown of Nashville, Gabe was beside her the entire time, pulling triple-duty as her bandmate, engineer, and mixer.

Brittany Ann Tranbaugh

• Singer/Songwriter

In February 2023, 31-year-old Brittany Ann Tranbaugh (pronounced TRAN-baw) finally quit her office job to pursue a full-time music career. Though she began writing songs and playing gigs as a teenager, multiple bouts of creative and mental health struggles—culminating in a several years-long hiatus from music altogether in her mid-to-late 20s—prevented her from ever taking the full leap. Everything changed in 2021 when her longtime friend Jackson Emmer called her up and implored her to come out to Colorado and record her backlog of original songs with him. Tranbaugh hit the road and spent a week with Emmer in his home studio, resulting in Quarter Life Crisis Haircut, her comeback EP released in April 2022. Bouncing between witty sarcasm and heartbreaking vulnerability, the songs tackled a wide range of topics including her sixth grade queer awakening, an awkward run-in with an old acquaintance, and the impossibility of true folk music authenticity in our modern age. Listening back to the finished product, she began to feel the flickers of confidence again.

Tranbaugh’s music became even more powerful when she reunited with bassist Joe Plowman and guitarist Kevin Brosky, two old friends from her Temple University house show scene days. Plowman introduced drummer Adam Shumski, and the group instantly re-energized Tranbaugh’s musical instincts, with old songs gaining new life and new songs blossoming with lush arrangements. The supercharged group hit the Philly music scene and established themselves as local favorites, garnering praise from WXPN and drawing enthusiastic crowds.

In July 2022, Tranbaugh’s queer Americana heartbreaker “Kiss You” was awarded Song of the Year in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, which came with a $20,000 cash prize. She used the money to fly her band out to Los Angeles to record five songs with Grammy-winning producer Tyler Chester (Madison Cunningham, Margaret Glaspy, Watkins Family Hour), which proved to be a life-affirming trip. In March 2023, Tranbaugh released the first song from this new batch, the exuberant long-distance-relationship anthem “Can’t Wait No Rush.” Listeners can expect three more singles this summer and a full EP, entitled Comets, in the fall. The new songs showcase Tranbaugh in her new era: energetic, self-assured, surrounded by her beloved musical community, and more commanding as a vocalist and writer than ever before.