Kathryn Cloward first made her musical mark as the creator, author, and songwriter of an award-winning series of children’s books and music CDs featuring Kathryn the Grape, an “everyday girl who helps kids of all ages develop authentic self-love.” The series recently won five 2017 Family Choice Awards, and her book Kathryn the Grape’s Kindness Confetti was awarded 2017 Best Children’s Fiction Book by the San Diego Book Association.

Cloward has also been performing under her own name, with two new albums dropping at the Belly Up on this night: Ripple Love and Secret Keeper, both recorded at Berkley Sound with Jeff Berkley, who also worked on her A Soft Place to Fall full-length and her 2016 Kathryn the Grape project We’re All In This Together. Both new albums are greatly informed by the recent loss of her father to cancer. “I know from personal experience that many people are walking around wounded by life experiences, and those unhealed wounds are light dimmers. My hope is to help people heal their wounds.”

The release party also serves as a fundraiser for Rady Children’s Hospital and its Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. “One of the children in my Kathryn the Grape series is a San Diego four year old girl named Samara. Rady Children’s saved Samara’s life when she went through treatment for cancer. We’re doing this show for Samara and all of the children like Samara and their families.” The bill includes another local kids’ music star, Steve Denyes from Hullabaloo (“He’ll be performing his adult music”), as well as Ezekiel Jay and Heather Nation.