Poet and rock singer Debra Marquart and her collaborators, Peter Manesis and Anthony Stevens, fuse elements of rock, jazz, and rhythm & blues in The Bone People. The group has performed in clubs, coffeehouses, high schools, museums, libraries and many other venues throughout the Midwest.

The Bone People is a three-piece unplugged rhythm & blues acoustic band based out of Ames, Iowa. Their originals feature a female vocal with lush guitar parts underpinned by intricate congas and other acoustic hand drums. Bone People gigs are a combination of the band’s acoustic/alternative originals and deconstructed covers of well-known rock and rhythm & blues songs, offering new unplugged ways to hear old classics.

The Bone People have worked to create a sound that blends the poetry of song lyrics with the power of unplugged acoustic instruments played at full tilt—to find the sliver of auditory space where music can be as close & intimate as acoustic but also as powerful and moving as electric.

The Bone People are prolific songwriters. They have released two compact discs: A Regular Dervish (spoken-word, jazz poetry), and Orange Parade (acoustic rock).