Bethany & Rufus are a cello and voice duo that weave a tapestry of sound as they slide between, groove, sweet melodies, deep prayer, and roots music from around the world. When Bethany Yarrow and Rufus Cappadocia join forces on stage they spark a fire-in-the-belly, soul-stirring experience that lingers long after the concert ends.

Bethany Yarrow absorbed a huge amount of traditional American folk music, blues and spirituals in her early childhood which permanantly rooted her in the voices of her ancestors. From there, she learned other traditional songs and prayer musics from different parts of the globe like "one long braid of song," as she says. Bethany's tour-de-force stage presence, mesmerizing voice and deep knowledge of the material allows her to turn these songs inside out and find their less explored, enchanted underside. 

Rufus Cappadocia is renowned for his cross cultural collaborations, taking the cello into previously unexplored realms. Cappadocia has collaborated with a wide spectrum of world music artists, and through his work with West African, Haitian Vodou and Arabic Music his unique musical voice traces the lineage of American music back to its root sources.

In January 2007 Bethany & Rufus released their debut record “900 Miles” on Hyena Records. The press was universally positive. The UK Guardian called the CD “Intensely musical … a splash of sunlight between the grey cracks of mediated culture”; others called the disc “incredibly rich” –Jazz Times; “inventive and haunting” – Buffalo News; “intimate and of great beauty” – Geotheque; and “...transcendent” –Le Nouvel Observateur. For the duo, it was a great triumph… not just personally, but for the genre of folk music. “It was so rewarding to get folk music out of the box of the usual expectation of voice and strummed guitar and turn a whole other kind of audience on to these old songs.”, says Rufus. “It was like putting American folk music back into the context of the folkloric traditions of the world.”

In 2009, after their return from the Festival Daoula in Bamako, Mali, Bethany & Rufus expanded their group formation to include Yacouba Moumouni (Niger) and Haitian Percussionist 'Bonga' Jean-Baptiste. The expanded group came into being on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of their Label Daqui. Yacouba was appearing with his ground breaking group from Niger, Mamar Kassey, on the same stage as Bethany and Rufus and joined them for one of their songs. The rest is the kind of magic chemistry that can never be planned.

The following summer the expanded group was invited to perform at Les Nuits Atypiques and while doing a promotional spot on Radio France for the festival they were invited to perform on the Live a FIP radio series in March of 2009 that was released as a Live CD September 10 2009 as a co-production with Radio France and Daqui Records.

It was in the process of rehearsing for the Live a FIP recording that the group really came into focus. Individually all of the members of the group have been instrumental in expanding the role of traditional forms in their respective musics: Bethany draws from the many songs that her father collected as part of the seminal folk movement of the 60s. Yacouba has dug deeply into the folkloric Hausa, Djerma, Peul and Songhai traditions of Niger and Bonga is the descendant of a very rich lineage of Vodou ceremonial drumming and song. Bonga has also traveled extensively through Haiti collecting and learning the different manifestations of Haitian song and folklore. Rufus has taken the cello into previously unknown realms and is noted both for for his astonishing collaborations with folkloric artists from around the world, as well as his improvisation based solo cello repertoire and critically acclaimed CD Songs for Cello (Daqui Records). It is with this background that all four musicians have come together to create a sound that, although based around the song forms of American traditional music, reaches back to a common root that has inspired everyone involved.

Currently finishing their next studio album with their expanded group, called the Bethany & Rufus Roots Quartet, Bethany & Rufus continue to their global collaborations. “There’s a spirit and history alive inside the music we’re making,” says Bethany. “It’s like there is something else that is pushing us along – something that needs to be done and wants to be heard. There is a very beautiful and magical element of destiny in all this. It is awe inspiring to walk this road of folk music and follow the voices of your ancestors.” She laughs, “It definitely keeps us honest and humble!”