Bread and Bones is a Vermont-based acoustic trio performing original music with a strong traditional-roots foundation. The members of Bread and Bones are Richard Ruane, Beth Duquette and Mitch Barron. Ruane is the primary songwriter and has been an award-winner or finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Competition in Kerrville, Texas, the Great Waters Music Festival Songwriter Contest in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest (sponsored by the Songwriters Association of Washington, D.C.), the Plowshares Coffeehouse Singer-Songwriter Competition in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and the SolarFest Songwriter Showcase in Tinmouth, Vermont.
Their new CD, I Know Stories, is primarily original music written by Richard Ruane (and one song co-written with Beth Duquette), but it also includes the traditional song Fair and Tender Ladies and a reworking of the traditional song Walking Cane, with some additional lyrics and an added bridge.
In performance, in addition to their original music, they will also perform some traditional songs from America and the British Isles, songs by other songwriters and a few jazz standards. Richard Ruane's warm baritone voice blends beautifully with Beth Duquette’s expressive alto. Ruane plays guitar, ukulele, mandolin and banjo. Mitch Barron adds his wonderful presence on fretless, fretted and upright bass and vocals.
Some recent reviews of Bread and Bones had this to say: “entertainers of the first order;†“gorgeous harmonies, captivating lyrics, and witty banter;†“music with substance and intelligence;†“Duquette’s and Ruane’s voices weave delightfully through each other and the music;†“superlative guitar work;†“finely crafted songs;†“a sound that is very confident and mature;†“their words are strong with a wealth of quotable lines.â€
The sound of Bread and Bones is characterized by imaginative two and three part harmonies over solid and well thought out guitar and bass work. Ruane's songwriting has been compared at times to Richard Shindell, Richard Thompson and John Gorka.
Members of Bread and Bones are veterans of a number of different Vermont bands, honing their skills at many clubs, coffeehouses, festivals and colleges throughout the Northeast and Midwest. Between them they have shared the stage with Phish, Brooks Williams, Lynn Miles, Louise Taylor, Robin Williamson, Slaid Cleaves, Jennifer Kimball, Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen, as well as Pete Seeger.
Ruane and Duquette are also actively involved in presenting music in Vermont. They are on the board of directors and the selection committees for the Ripton Community Coffee House and the Middlebury Festival on the Green.
