RUNE

You can hear the Dave Mathews influence in Rune frontman Colby James’ funky-staccato vocal delivery (check “Slow Down”); and Heather Church’s flaming fiddle is a Red Bull rush to the ears. Rune is a creative amalgamation of roots music, Celtic folk, and alt jam-rock. - Music-Tech.Net

"Rune is a great band both live and on record! It's no wonder that we get calls here at mvy from people who have seen them once and are hooked!"

~ Barbara Dacey
Program Manager and On-Air Personality, WMVY - WMVY

Making it on the regional music scene usually entails rugged years of splashing through beer-drowned bars for paltry dough and sleepless road trips. Build a fan base, burn a few CDs and beg for radio play. Living large for many, a gritty Rock 'N' Roll fantasy. But paying your dues does take time and fortitude.

It seems a Bristol-based band has been fortunate enough to hurdle a few time-consuming obstacles. Rune, a fusion band with a unique sound has enlisted the full support of Rhode Island publicists at AlliKats, and have the benefit of producer Gwen Jones who handled the arrangements on Hadrian's Wall, the group's first CD recorded at Stable Sound Studios in Portsmouth.

Stories about bands usually don't start with a discussion about management, but in Rune's case it seems appropriate. Appropriate because these artists have only been working together for about a year and most brought little performance or recording experience to the table.

Despite being mere babies in the are club and festival scene, Rune has created a fairly unique sound by allowing Jones to blend Heather Church's fiddle playing with Colby James' vocal raw ability and penchant for writing Funk laced tunes. Church, a classically-trained violinist with a master's degree in music education, plays with a Celtic lean and, being the most experienced of the lot, has slanted Rune's style into a Celtic-Funk fusion sound on the best of their jams.

Take, for instance, the disc's opeing track, "Regatta." James, a Providence-born singer-songwriter and self-taught ax-player, puts on his bee-bop hat and isngs "so get brave on me now." And Rune has every reason to get brave now. With an orginal repertoire including mellow groove tunes such as "Slow Down" the sky seems the limit, should they keep the pro-power brokers at Allikats steering the ship.

"Slow Down," though benefiting from a strong injection of Celtic fiddle, has an undercurrent of Jazz beckoning. If "Regatta" reminds of an Addison Groove Project song, the Boston-based sax-driven Funk band that periodically packs Lupo's as the Strand, then "Slow Down" has an early G. Love and Special Sauce flavor.

Playing a lot of Celtic fiddle helps Rune secure festival gigs, but the Funk-Fusion, style and willingness to mix it up, makes Rune a rising talent on the area music circuit. - Jim Vickers, Editor MOTIF Performing Arts News