KIPYN MARTIN with GABRIELLE ZWI, MICHELLE SWAN AND FREDDY HALL!
An evening celebrating diversity, equality and inclusion.
KIPYN MARTIN
Kipyn Martin is an emerging Indie Folk singer-songwriter whose roots sink deep into the banks of the Shenandoah River. She currently plays festivals, concert halls, coffeehouses, and house concerts from New England to Texas.
Kipyn celebrated several milestones in January 2017, including the release of Dance Across the Sky, a solo project following her debut Undercover Muse. At that time she also won the coveted Gold Award in the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest (open category) for "God Is Love". This was her third MASC Gold, adding to previous wins in 2013 and 2014.
Additional accolades for Kipyn include being honored by the Washington Area Music Association with their WAMMIE Award for New Artist of the Year in 2015, and multiple nominations the following year for Songwriter of the Year and Folk Contemporary Vocalist.
Kipyn also tours the country with Allison Shapira in the duo show Joan & Joni, a tribute to the music of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell (for additional details about Joan & Joni visit www.joanandjoni.com). 2019 Touring for Kipyn includes solo concerts in Pensacola and Brooklyn, as well as a Joan & Joni performance in Berryville, VA (Shenandoah Valley).
FREDDY HALL
A true artist of the human condition.
Deemed “a true artist of the human condition” by Performer Magazine, Freddy Hall crafts songs about life, love, and everything in between. This indie/pop darling mixes sonic and anthemic elements of monumental artists like Jamiroquai, Beck and Amy Winehouse as well as the sophistication of songwriting greats like Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell.
A Virginia native, Freddy set up camp in Brooklyn in the fall 2008 after graduating with esteem from Berklee College of Music, in Boston MA. He quickly made a name for himself touring with Duncan Sheik’s Tony award winning musical SPRING AWAKENING.
Freddy’s has worked with songwriting giants like Carole King, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, and Vanessa Carlton. His musicianship has been featured on Disney+, This American Life, Billboard, and was a staff favorite at Performer Magazine.
Freddy comes alive when he steps on stage. His ability to connect with his audience has landed him in venues of all shapes and sized; from Lincoln Center, to makeshift stages in living rooms. His engaging and energetic performances have earned him a diverse and dedicated fan base.
Earlier this year Freddy teamed up with producer Anthony “Rocky” Gallo (John Legend, Cigarettes After Sex) to record his third studio album Dazy. Dazy is a musical evolution for Hall, expanding on his storytelling and passion-pop capabilities, all the while experimenting with new structures, themes, grooves and sounds.
Out now, Dazy is a journey of self-discovery through loss, and is offered as a beacon of hope, especially to the most fragile among us.
MICHELLE SWAN
Introduced to the guitar at age nine by her father, himself a 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 acoustic folk music scene in 1990, performing at local open-mics and coffeehouses. She currently has 3 full length recordings of original music and continues to record and perform all over the DC metro area and beyond.
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 has performed many times outside the DC Metro area but her local venues have included The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Maryland’s Weinberg Center for the Arts, Brewer’s Alley, Vini Culture Wine Bar, 49 West, JV’s Restaurant, Earps Ordinary, The Frederick Coffee Company, Elk Run Vineyard, Solace Outpost, Mad City Coffee, Bump N’ Grind, Dublin Roasters, Black Ankle Vineyard, Clare and Don’s Beach Shack, Big Cork Vineyard, Settle Down Easy, New Deal Café. In DC, she has performed at Mr. Henry’s on Capitol Hill, Art On the Avenue, 3 Whistles, and many other wonderful places!
Michelle loves to sing in intimate setting. She especially loves house concerts because it’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know her music community and interact closely with fans.
GABRIELLE ZWI
Gabrielle Zwi is a musician, actor, and arts educator in the Washington, DC area who masterfully performs folk-pop and bossa nova in songs about love, identity, and the issues we collectively face. They are a Brazilian-American dual-citizen and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and they have Autism Spectrum Disorder along with other disabilities that have played an integral role in their creative work. Gabrielle graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Rights from Columbia University in the City of New York. At Columbia, Gabrielle also studied Jazz Vocal Performance in the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program, through which they received individual instruction from Christine Correa and participated in the Latin Jazz Ensemble directed by Vince Cherico and Leo Traversa. Before transferring to Columbia University, Gabrielle graduated with their Associate of Arts from Montgomery College, where they studied and conducted research under the guidance of Dawn Avery. Gabrielle released their debut album, “Without a Label” in 2018, a single titled “Deepest Roots” in 2019, and a single titled “Guns to a Playground Fight” in 2022, as well as being a featured artist on several other musician’s projects. Their band, Friends and Amigos, debuted in 2023 with original songs “Sitting on Tables” and “Three Dollar Bill”. Among other songwriting awards, Gabrielle most recently won the Silver Award in the Freedom Category of the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, for “We Rise,” which was a collaboration with other young songwriters committed to combating climate change. Gabrielle believes that music can change hearts and minds, so they write and sing songs that promote progress and acceptance… whether it’s a song about their experiences as a disabled student, a song directly written about youth-led activism, or a typical-seeming love song that happens to normalize queer relationships. They have performed these songs at educational events and political rallies, such as a rally at the U.S. Department of Education demanding that all public schools provide free menstrual products restrooms, Montgomery College’s Annual Holocaust Commemoration, and a Zero Hour / Fridays for Future rally highlighting the impacts of environmental racism. In addition to their musical mobilization, Gabrielle is a community organizer and educator. In early 2018, Gabrielle founded DC Teens Action, a 501c3 fiscally sponsored organization which helps make activism accessible to students with disabilities, financial need, and other barriers to access. They were appointed to the Human Rights Commission of the City of Rockville at 18 years old, and were appointed at 21 years old to the Montgomery County Committee Against Hate/Violence. Gabrielle also works as a Teaching Artist through Carpe Diem Arts, The Civic Circle, and ArtStream.