Lui Collins sings the way people did a great long time ago, before most of us forgot how to breathe.

Andrew Calhoun, Waterbug Records

• Lui Collins – vocals, tenor ukulele, banjo
• Anand Nayak – guitar, vocals

Folk singer/songwriter Lui Collins has been performing, writing and recording for over 40 years, earning international acclaim for her music. Her repertoire, accompanied on tenor ukulele and banjo, ranges from original and traditional folk songs and American standards to bossa nova in the original Brazilian Portuguese. She’s made 17 recordings, including 9 collaborations with Anand Nayak (8 for her music curriculum Kids’ Jam), and most recently a CD with her band 3 Ravens and author Jane Yolen. She’s performed on others’ projects, and shared the stage with such folk-world notables as Tom Rush, Bonnie Raitt, and Stan Rogers.

Lui sings my songs better than I do

Stan Rogers

These days, along with creating playful 4-string arrangements of some favorite original songs, Lui has been exploring the fabulous jazz chords in old American standards and bossa nova on tenor ukulele. She also contributes to 3-part vocal harmonies and plays ukulele, banjo, and piano with fiddler Donna Hébert and guitarist Max Cohen in the band 3 Ravens. In October 2018 they released The Infinite Dark, a collaborative recording with renowned author Jane Yolen, including recitations and musical settings of Yolen’s poems.

In a parallel musical adventure, Collins founded Upside-Up Music and began teaching Music Together classes in 2003. This led to her development of a primarily Kodály-based music curriculum for 5-7-year-olds called Kids’ Jam. The curriculum includes 8 seasonal collections of traditional and original songs (each with CD and Songbook), which she uses in her local classes and has also adapted for homeschool use as Upside-Up’s Music at Home.

More Praise for Lui

one of New England’s first and brightest stars.

Boston Globe

one of the best guitarist-arrangers I have heard in years.

guitarist Dave van Ronk

a folksinger for our times

Boston Herald

Lui Collins’ website

Anand Nayak

Anand Nayak is a guitarist, singer and producer from Florence, MA. A long-time member of Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem, Anand has played everywhere from bedsides to big stages all over the country, and has long cultivated an approach to music that celebrates connection. His efforts in the recording studio have garnered several family music awards including a Grammy nomination for Singing Their Way Through by Alastair Moock. Anand and Lui have collaborated extensively in the studio, starting with Lui’s 2006 album Closer.