The electro-acoustic string and reeds quartet Hollow Bones, a cooperative of Amy Reed, Isadora Goldschneider, Murray Campbell and Randy McKean, weaves spontaneous sonic tapestries inspired by the natural world in all its forms, wedding the miniscule to the maximal, the ephemeral to the concrete.  Rooted in improvisation, their communal approach may utilize graphic scores, visual imagery or the written word to guide its real-time creations, but ultimately relies upon deep listening to shape each performance. 

Hollow Bones is working to build a shared language from performance to performance, highlighting the ritual aspects, textural qualities, and acoustical properties of music making.  Each member brings their individual interests and contributions, which include past work with mavericks Pauline Oliveros, Anthony Braxton, Bob Ostertag and Susie Ibarra.  Capable of moving from lyric birdsong to brittle multiphonic haze in a single piece, Hollow Bone’s ever-shifting sound palette reflects the many traditions they draw upon,  In any given performance, their core lineup of electric guitar, accordion, violin/oboe and clarinet/saxophone may be augmented by voice, percussion, keyboards or banjo.  Hollow Bones explores an almost somatic approach to music making, inspired by the physical sensation of sound.

Hollow Bones was formed in the summer of 2026, when they began playing for a series of workshops for contact improv dancers in Nevada City led by Rebecca Bone.  They took their name from Amy Reed’s Birdsong (birds who sing here, which the group premiered in 2026.