 Paul Loether and John Barber met in 1995 while
playing with the Church Folk Companions, performing a folkmass every
Saturday at Christ Episcopal Church in Avon. They found that their
musical backgrounds were different, but compatible: John is a flat
picker and Paul is a finger picker. John's music is rooted in rock and
roll and Paul has always been influenced by folk artists. John plays
right-handed and Paul plays left-handed. They are, in many ways, on
opposite ends of the bookshelf, but always seem to find ways to play
both ends towards the middle to create their unique sound. Paul plays
a stand-up bass, 6 and 12-string acoustic guitar and banjo. John plays
a 6-string acoustic guitar and 4-string acoustic bass. Singing duties
are shared and both harmonize whenever possible.
Paul is the songwriter/composer, while John
enjoys writing arrangements for church hymns and gospel favorites. In
addition to Paul's original songs and John's arrangements, "BookEnds"
cover an array of folk and country artists like Nancy Griffith, Tom
Rush, Harry Chapin, The Beatles, John McCutcheon, Simon &
Garfunkle, Jeannette Williams, Jimmy Buffett, Joni Mitchell, Kate
Wolf, Bill Stains, Alabama, Jeannette Williams and James Taylor.
Paul and John have been featured guests at
Wintonbury in Bloomfield where they have also headlined as members of
The Church Folk Companions. They regularly play on the southern New
England coffeehouse circuit at such venues as the Cornerstone Café in
Unionville, First Coffee in Wethersfield, and Café Cornerstone in
Groton. The duo regularly performs for events at area churches, and
beginning in 2000, they perform at the annual March of Dimes
"Walk America" fundraiser in New Britain. They are equally
at home entertaining a statewide audience at the Hartford Prayer
Breakfast or young urban summer campers at Saint James Church in
Hartford. John and Paul also traditionally "open" the annual
concert of the Dulcimer Folk Association of Connecticut held at Christ
Church in Avon, Connecticut, during the month of May.
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