PEMBROKE — Local Lumbee singer/songwriter Charly Lowry recently collaborated with international group The Heart Collectors to express their experiences during the pandemic through music.

Folk Alliance International released this summer the Residence Project, in which 10 United States-based artists were paired with musicians from Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ireland, Israel, Scotland and Spain to co-write songs about the pandemic experience. Funded by the Antonia and Vladimer Kulaev Cultural Heritage Fund, the songs are being released by FAI as “home videos” recorded in the artists’ respective homes.

“This project bridges countries, cultures, and languages and was conceived to reflect on our collective experiences during these unprecedented times and to create songs that bring light and inspiration to weary music fans around the globe,” said Marisa Kolka, FAI’s Communications manager.

Hosting the series is Grammy Award-winning artist and FAI showcase alumnus Chris Thile.

“The past year has taken a tremendous toll on the folk community,” Thile said. “These new compositions from this project are being released on FAI’s YouTube channel to raise awareness of The Village Fund, which provides direct grants to artists and music industry professionals in need.”

Lowry and The Heart Collectors collaborated on the song “Navigating to Hope,” which to date has reached more than 14,000 views on YouTube.

Lowry enjoys performing, meeting people and educating others on the American Indian experience.

She served as an ambassador for the Lumbee people in 1997-98, traveling throughout the country to visit tribal nations while attending various conferences, powwows, etc. Her reign as Junior Miss Lumbee was the catalyst that awakened her spirit to an inherent calling as a Culture Bearer.

Lowry continues to work on her craft: immersing herself in the culture of American music and expanding her listening ear to various genres, all the while composing songs that give a personal account of her experience as an indigenous woman walking in two worlds.

Of The Heart Collectors, John T. Davis, author of “Austin City Limits: 25 Years Of American Music,” said, “Imagine Fleetwood Mac with more of an organic, Celtic-inflected lilt of vocals and melody and you have a rough idea of why Australia’s Heart Collectors are so instantly appealing. There is a vibrant and timeless allure to their music that is resistant to the fashion of the moment, and all the more enduring because of it. Kymrie’s voice is the stuff angel’s wings are made of.”

With the sentimentality of 1970s-inspired harmonies, the Australian four-piece Epic Folk band has graced stages around the world, accomplishing three international tours and releasing four studio albums. Picked as one of the Top Bands To See at SXSW (The Austin Statesman), this independent group have found creative ways of staying connected throughout the 2020 lockdowns and the cancellation of their United States and United Kingdom tours.

The Heart Collectors released their latest album, “Time To Say I Love You” (2020), one single a fortnight, featured on Spotify with The Guardians’ Australian Music for Isolated Times and Sounds Australia’s Sounds Australia Selects playlists. In September 2020, the Collectors were selected to be one of 12 Australian artists for the Premier Event Global Music Match — a worldwide initiative to connect musicians and industry in the face of COVID-19 restrictions.

With soaring cello, intricate guitar, sparkling mandolin, boot banging banjo, passionate strikes of a tambourine and the thundering of the bodhran, the four performers create musical synergy, marrying progressive folk/rock sensibilities and clean classical precision.

Founded in 1989, and governed by a 21-member board of directors, Folk Alliance International is the world’s largest membership organization for the folk music industry and community. Its mission is to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.