APRIL 30, 2022

nicole belanus • michelle swan with marcy cochran

NICOLE BELANUS

“Nicole Belanus is a welcome addition to the singer/songwriter tradition...providing such a fresh and thoughtful look into the acoustic experience.” - Hunter Hughes — Host of "Hunter at Sunrise"

Nicole Belanus is a singer-songwriter with soul-acoustic and folk-rock sensibilities.  A classically trained musician and multi-instrumentalist, she delivers a strong vocal performance with memorable melodies and has recorded five albums of original music.  Her 2015 album "Common Thread" was nominated for the Best Folk Contemporary Album Wammie by the Washington Area Music Association. Her latest release, 2018's "The Grown Demos," is a live in studio recording featuring her trio (Jon Nazdin on bass, Rich Latimer on drums) and has jazzy undertones, supporting Nicole's fascination with harmony and style. It's this more mature sound that has led to live performance explorations including electric guitar and saxophone, among other sonic adventures. Nicole has been featured on local radio stations and has performed in a variety of venues across the United States.  She was named Best Emerging Artist at the Sea Level Songwriting Festival in the Tidewater Virginia area, and was recipient of the “Best Vocalist” award from SingerUniverse Magazine in Los Angeles.  Nicole has also received Honorable Mention in the Mid Atlantic Songwriting Contest.

nicolebelanusmusic.com

michelle swan

Introduced to the guitar at age nine by her father, himself a former singer/songwriter, Michelle Swan has pursued a musical path ever since. After studying classical musical and clarinet performance at Towson State University, Michelle entered the Baltimore-Washington music scene in 1990, performing at local open-mics and coffeehouses.

Self-reflective and acutely observant, Michelle deftly weaves lyric and note together to create intensely personal songs that tell of sentiments and circumstances nonetheless familiar to everyone.

She performs widely at venues including regional festivals, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and numerous clubs in the area. These include Maryland’s Weinberg Center for the Arts, Brewer’s Alley, Vini Culture Wine Bar, the Frederick Coffee Company, Elk Run Vineyard, Mad City Coffee, Bump N’ Grind, Dublin Roasters, Black Ankle Vineyard, Big Cork Vineyard, and New Deal Café. In DC, she has performed at Mr. Henry’s on Capitol Hill, DC. Virginia venues include On the Avenue, 3 Whistles, JVs, and Epicure Café.

michelleswan.net

MARCY COCHRAN

Marcy Cochran has been fiddling in multiple genres for the last 22 years, playing for 14 of those with the DC-area Americana band, Dead Men’s Hollow. Along the way she’s had the opportunity to play with a number of songwriters and bands, and loves getting to be a part of the growing, blossoming musical community of singing, songwriting, instrumentalist women featured in this concert series.