The Belle Comedians at a performance outside Backstreet Records in Saint John this past summer.

That same notion is the underpinning of foodclothingshelter, a group of East Coast artists that the Halifax-based singer songwriter has joined in the hopes of collaboratively navigating the pitfalls of show biz. Several musicians from that group will showcase the benefits of that 'all for one' philosophy at the Capitol this weekend to like-minded listeners that are nourished and sustained by song.

"It's a collective of friends and artists with many different skills and connections," Mallory said. "Some of our members are musicians, some are photographers, some are writers, some are visual artists, and most are all of those things. We believe that our love of creative spirits is invaluable to us as artists. We are a family."

Dan Tweedie is a keyboardist for The Belle Comedians, a band that is also part of the collective who will be sharing the stage with Mallory at the Capital gig. He said that family spirit is invaluable to artists looking to survive and thrive in the greedy, seedy music industry.

"It means you're never on your own," he said of being a part of foodclothingshelter. "The idea is that if one of us catches a break, we're all there to support them and hopefully in the end, that break will transfer over to the other acts in the collective and we can all benefit from the success."

He added that such a holistic approach may sound ludicrous and even lazy in an industry as capitalistically cutthroat as show business. But, he said having album cover artists, photographers, audio engineers, and an administrator savvy enough to book proper tours, all within arm's length benefits everyone involved.

Crissi Cochrane - a fellow east coast singer songwriter fresh from a studio finish in Chicago where she recorded a full-length with Mike Kinsella of Owen and American Football- will round out this weekend's show at the Capitol. While she is not a member of foodclothingshelter, Cochrane often collaborates and performs with its members because she can attest to how daunting a breakthrough in any scene can be.

"It's pretty challenging to just pop out of the woodwork around here and just be an instant hit," she said. "It really doesn't happen. And chances are, if you think it has, you just overlooked the whole crowd of people raising them up. Trying to be the musician and the manager all in one can be a struggle, so having these people to lean on really helps. You can't go it alone."

The artists are hoping their audience will hear that family friendly vibe in every note at this weekend's show. The Belle Comedians are piano driven rock and rollers consisting of Tweedie tickling the ivories and singer Benjamin Ross on the guitar, along with fellow foodclothingshelter members Paul Conrod, Owen Steel and Adam Guidry.

"My only expectation, or perhaps hope... is that our spirit will be so infectious that the audience won't be able to help themselves but dance," Tweedie said.

Both Mallory and Cochrane are lone guitar wielding balladeers looking to connect with their audience on a more lyrical level.

"Most of what I do is pretty soft, so it's usually more of a nurse-your-drink atmosphere than a pound-it-back kind of set," Cochrane said.

But they all hope that the music and lyrics will be a fitting medium for their collaboratively cozy manifesto.

The foodclothingshelter show will be held at the Capitol on Dec. 27 at the Capitol Complex in Fredericton.