RUNE
Bristol, Rhode Island, United States | SELF
Music
Press
BRISTOL — Bands playing jazz and country, rock and classical music are part of the eclectic lineup set to play at Independence Park on the Bristol waterfront for the annual Fourth of July concert series. Twelve consecutive evenings of music will begin on Wednesday, June 23.
This year, members of the Fourth of July organizing committee will kick off the concert series.
“The committee is actually going to stand on stage and sing patriotic songs. I estimate about 50 will be singing,” said Ray (Sonny) Lavey, who organized the concert series.
The concert lineup begins with the Doug Botelho Band playing standards and popular music the first night, and ends with Matty Bernier opening at 6:30 p.m. on July 4, followed by the United States Army Concert Band.
“It’s a lot more versatile this year than it has been before. It’s a greater mix of entertainment: a full jazz show, a Broadway cabaret show, a heavy duty contemporary country show with Sixwire, on Saturday, June 26, the British Invasion — they’re a band that plays music of the Beatles era,” Mr. Lavey said.
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More than half the bands are from Bristol, or have some Bristol ties, including the popular group Band of Brothers (playing Thursday, June 24) and Rune, a band that opens the evening’s entertainment on the same day.
“Rune has a really good electric violinist. They’re like a Dave Matthews mixed with Celtic. That show will be something you don’t want to miss,” Mr. Lavey said. (Rune also got a publicity boost when it won a recent talent contest that landed them a music video spot on the season finale of “American Idol.”)
A number of the bands are well known from other places in the country. Mr. Lavey said the five members of Sixwire (playing on Tuesday, June 29) are heavy hitters, with members having toured and recorded with several well-knowns in country music, including Faith Hill, Kenny Rogers and Vince Gill. Songs written by Sixwire members have been recorded by Tim McGraw, Kenny Rogers and more. This is their northeast debut.
The concert series returns to Independence Park this year, where it took place two years ago. Traditionally, the concerts were held at Colt School. Mr. Lavey said both locations have benefits, but the park offers more space.
“Independence Park has much more space. It permits more families to come with lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy the show,” he said.
For more information on the concert series, check out www.july4bristolri.com. - East Bay RI - Cindy VanSchalkwyk
Take, for instance, the disc's opening track, "Regatta." James, a Providence-born singer-songwriter and self-taught ax-player, puts on his bee-bop hat and sings "so get brave on me now." And Rune has every reason to get brave now. With an original 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. - MOTIF, Jim Vickers, Editor
"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, 92.7 FM WMVY Radio
You can hear the Dave Mathews influence in Rune front man 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 Indie Artist Showcase
Discography
Regatta- Aired on MVY Radio
Bury the worry- Music video aired during the finale of American Idol
Bury the worry, New York, New York and Slowdown- Streaming from our website: wearerune.com
Hadrians Wall- Album Released.
Photos
Bio
Colby James
So it’s the summer of 1998 and I’m sitting around the house while all my friends have plans. I notice an old 70’s style applause guitar that belonged to my dad, leaning against my couch. I pick it up and start strumming.
Just the right hand playing and my left, is not quite there yet. But little did I know that I was getting all the rhythm down. So here I am all rhythm, no technique. My dad gets me some lessons at E.U. Wurlitzer, I get the basic chords down and in three weeks, I’m done! My brother in-law is hosting Karaoke Night at Judge Roy Bean on Sunday. He calls me up and says, “Bring your guitar and play for an hour or so”. So, I did! Not knowing what to expect, I get up on stage, plug in my guitar, and do my first mic check.
My first song is about four minutes long, I hit the last chord and hear people clap. I’ve been addicted ever since. Shortly after a few Sundays with Sean, Judge Roy Bean asks me to run an “Open Mic Night” on Tuesdays. I agree and run it for about five years. I’m at this one in particular Open Mic Night, this girl (Heather Church) comes up to me and says “My band just broke up tonight, and I think you sound great, would you like to play with a violinist”? In my head I’m thinking, a girl wants to jam with me?? I say, sure! At the time I was playing with my friends, Andy Tarter (Drums) and Neil Colman (Bass) and I set up a practice on the third floor of the Bean. This is the birth of Rune. I’m still doing my acoustic thing with a few friends to play along. I’ve played on some of the greatest stages and played some of the greatest dive bars on the east coast.
Heather Church
I began playing the violin when I was eight years old because I wanted to learn the haunting violin/viola solo in the song Dust in the Wind. We always had music playing in our house and I felt drawn to bands or songs that featured string music. My parents encouraged this interest and for that I am deeply grateful for my life has been centered on my musical pursuits ever since. I earned my undergrad and graduate degrees at UMass, Amherst and UMiami, FL. Both degrees are in music education with a focus in string pedagogy. I have been the string director in the Dartmouth, MA Public Schools for the past eight years and enjoy working with over 200 students. I adore my students and do my best to teach and motivate them so that they may learn to deeply appreciate music and perhaps someday experience the profound elation that can be felt when playing music.
Though I attain great pleasure from teaching, playing has always been my true love. I have had amazing opportunities thanks to my inspiring teachers. My favorites include studying music in England for a year and performing in a chamber music festival in Positano, Italy for a summer. One of the coolest gigs I ever played was a project called, Van Helsings Curse with Dee Snider and Mark Wood. Currently, I play in chamber orchestras and with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Around the holidays I perform with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra which is always a thrill. Though my training has been mainly classical, in recent years I have gravitated more towards the rock and Celtic world. Meeting Colby on that fateful night eight years ago was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Playing in this band has been liberating as it allows me to explore the world of improvisation and my own musical creations. I believe greatly in our music and I hope you enjoy it!
Eric Leffingwell
My connection to music was instantly immediate. Hearing the first cords of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles, I knew I was hooked for life. At a very early age, I found myself listening to my family’s record collection that contained a variety of music ranging from Classical to Jazz, Pop to Hard Rock and everything in between; I loved listening to it all.
How did it all begin you ask? Well, I started playing acoustic guitar at the age of 12. As a teen, I would spend hours playing at gatherings and parties with a musician friend of mine. In high school, I sang in the choir and participated in the All State Competition, receiving numerous awards. The combination of my love for music and being musically involved ultimately set me on the road to Berklee College of Music.
Entering Berklee College of Music my freshmen year, I decided to major in musical production and engineering. During this time, I also worked Normandy Sound in Warren, RI, for four years as an assistant to Tom Soares and Phil Greene. Normandy Sound recorded New England’s biggest named bands and a few national acts as well. After finishing at Berklee and my days working at Normandy Sound came to an end, I was drawn to the stage.
Living in Boston, I was in an ideal place to begin my music quest. At the age of 22, I joined a three piece hard rock band called Pieces. On any given Friday or Saturday night, Pieces would fill The Channel, a Boston rock venue that held 1000 s
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