LEWISTON – Arborea, an indie folk duo from Maine, will perform along with Israeli singer/songwriter Noa Babayof and Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten Saturday, July 5, at Chill Yoga.

The music, all falling under the free folk/alternative folk genre, will begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $8. Chill Yoga is in suite 204 on the second floor at 105 Middle St.

Formed in the summer of 2005 bys husband-and-wife team Buck and Shanti Curran, Arborea’s music follows in the progressive folk tradition of American iconic guitarists/composers John Fahey and Robbie Basho, British folk group Pentangle and contemporaries Marissa Nadler, Espers, Devendra Banhart, and Iron and Wine.

Buck plays guitar, slide guitars, bowed strings, flutes and banjo, and provides vocals. Shanti provides lead vocals and plays banjo, ukulele, bowed strings, harmonium and percussion. Their concerts, as described by George Parsons of Dream Magazine,” are “low key intimate spellcasting affairs; the fact that they are a couple might help to explain the seamless organic blending of their music together.”

In October 2006, the duo released its first CD, “Wayfaring Summer” to glowing reviews and air play throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. Last year, Arborea performed at the Green Man Festival in the United Kingdom, the Tanned Tin Festival in Spain and the Time of Rivers Festival in Portland. In April, the Philadelphia-based label Fire Museum Records released Arborea’s second self-titled CD.

Babayof is rapidly establishing a presence on the new international folk scene. Her debut album, “From A Window To A Wall,” was recently recorded and mixed by Greg Weeks at his studio in Philadelphia. It features lush string arrangements backing up Babayof’s arresting singing and writing style. She is influenced by the likes of Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, along with such contemporary icons as Diane Cluck, Smog and the Espers.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Van Etten moved at age 17 to Tennessee, where she began most of her songwriting and first encountered the influences that continue to shape her current sound. After spending six years away, she returned to the East Coast and has continued to write and record in the bedroom of her New York apartment for the last three years.

Wanting to remain independent, she hand-makes all of her CDs and packaging, and mails them out with handwritten letters. She performs as a soloist; and relying solely on her simple guitar rhythms, she focuses on melancholic melodies that are free to explore almost yodel-like scales and vocal range, reminiscent of Scotch-Irish folk and Appalachia.

For more information on each artist, log on to www.myspace.com/arborea2, www.myspace.com/noababayof or www.myspace.com/sharonvanetten.

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