Written on December 17, 2009 at 5:18 pm, by Betty
Tomorrow night (Friday the 18th) we will be playing at Lickety Split on South Street in Philly. It’s a free show, so I think you should come. It will be our first real show (where we can drink and say bad words) with Jaison on bass and our last show of 2009 (anyone else baffled at how 10 years could have passed between this very moment and Y2K? Me too.) We go on at 11pm, so bring your Christmas cheer and be ready to drink some beer!
Written on November 11, 2009 at 8:38 pm, by Betty
So we had a chilly but fun performance at Wrightstown Farmer’s Market last weekend. I was amazed that we could still manage to play the guitar/viola/bass/drums when we couldn’t even feel our fingers. Thank you to everyone who joined us at our three farmer’s market performances this year! Hopefully we will play there again next season (preferably when it is nice and warm out!)
We are getting geared up to play at the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday, November 22nd and we are pumped! We will be playing at Kelly Drive and Midvale in the East Falls section of the city. Here is a map!
View Larger Map
Make sure you come and check us out – we will be playing from 8:30am – 1:30pm (a marathon of a performance….ha ha) that day and would love to see you! It’s a great place to watch the runners, too!
Written on November 6, 2009 at 5:40 pm, by Betty
Hey there! Long time no see!
We are going to be playing at the Wrightstown Farmer’s tomorrow so make sure to stop by and check it out. It may be a littler chillier than it was the last time (I think at our last show at Wrightstown the temperature was 85 degrees), but it should be a good time. In totally exciting news, our buddy Jaison will be debuting on the bass guitar! (But no worries, while Jaison will be playing bass, Richard will still be banjo pluckin’ and guitar strummin’ at up-coming Betty gigs.)
So come pick up some squash and some cider, and come out to the farmer’s market tomorrow! See you there!
Written on August 9, 2009 at 9:42 pm, by Betty
We had a blast at the Blinkin Lincoln last night – thanks to everyone who came out! We debuted a new song and really enjoyed watching the Peace Creeps set. Speaking of the Peace Creeps, make sure you check them out at Rittenhouse Square this Wednesday (Aug. 12th) at 7pm. It’s a free show and there is nothing better than getting your boogie on outside!
Written on August 3, 2009 at 4:42 pm, by Betty
We are super pumped to be playing a show at the Blinkin Lincoln on Saturday night (Aug. 8)! Now, in case you have not been there yet, the Blinkin Lincoln is a great new(ish) venue on Ridge Ave in the Manayunk/Roxborough neighborhood in Philly. It’s connected to Coyle’s Café and is a great chill room with good sound and a bunch of awesome paintings of Abe Lincoln on the walls.
Blinkin Lincoln gets my vote for one of the best places to drink/see music/play music in Philly because:
1.) They serve Lion’s Head beer
2.) Great sound, good people…the type of venue that people actually come in off of the street just to hear good music
3.) It is literally two blocks away from my house which means I can stumble home quite easily
4.) It is on the 9 bus route (my favorite of all the buses , so if you are coming from Center City, check it out…septa.com.)
5.) It is only a few short blocks away from the best cheese steak joint in the entire city of Philadelphia, Chubby’s. Not trying to start anything, but Chubby’s gives Pats and Genos a run for their money.
But we aren’t just super pumped (I need to eliminate that phrase from my vocabulary) about the venue, we are also quite jazzed (better than pumped?) about playing with our friends Dana Alexandra and the Peace Creeps.
Dana Alexandra and I are connected in a 6 degrees of separation friend of a friend sort of way. I saw Dana play in a duo a long long time ago, but I have never seen her solo act so this will be a treat. Her music is a great soulful/playful blend so make sure to get to the show early (by 10pm) to check her out.
We have played with Richard Bush and The Peace Creeps at Havana in New Hope, PA before and it was an absolute blast. They bring unmatched energy and fun get-the-heck-up-on-your-feet rock n’ roll to any room. They really are one of the best bands in Philly and they will be playing 2nd on Saturday night.
Betty goes on last (midnightish), so come early and look for us at the bar. We will be the ones drinking the Lion’s Head. Mention this article and I will buy you one.*
xoxoxkatie
*Rules subject to change depending on status of Katie’s checking account.
Written on July 13, 2009 at 5:19 pm, by Betty
I took a Songwriting course in High School and while I agree that you can teach the fundamentals of song structure and constructing a musical hook, I think it is a silly thing to try to instruct someone on how to force a song out of their soul. This probably means I will never be summoned to write a song for Kelly Clarkson or David Archuleta. Which in turn means that Kelly and David will probably never sing about the first time I got dumped or that time I stole a keg of beer at a party by getting some strong dudes to throw it out the window while no one was looking…it’s probably for the best.
My songs usually are born in the shower or while I am riding my bike to work, the few times of the day that I let my brain relax and zone-out a little. I usually think of a lyric line and a melody for it at the same time, most songs starting from just one sentence, one little riff. My songs aren’t always gems, but they are always genuine. I’ve never been to Paris, so I ain’t gonna sing about it, you know what I mean?
And it’s not just all about the lyrics, I am a straight to the point kinda girl, so I write straight to the point kind of songs both melodically and harmonically. Besides, songs about sitting on a stool, drinking beer, don’t really require a lot of musical build-up.
I never turned in a song in my Songwriting class. Not one. I still got an A somehow. My awkward teenage self just didn’t really want all of the other awkward teenagers in the room knowing too much of my soul. I had a good teacher, and I think he could see that.
Here is a little snippet of my most recent ditty (the band hasn’t even heard it yet) spawned from the sometimes totally frustrating songwriting process…
Every song worth singing, has already been sung
Every game worth playing, has already been won
And everything worth doing, has already been done
So I am gonna keep on drinking, till I see tomorrow’s sun.
xoxox Katie
Written on June 26, 2009 at 2:26 pm, by Betty
It’s hard to believe that our last EP, Sit and Wait, was released all the way back in late ‘07/early ’08. Time flies and stands still at the same time. The band has gone through some changes, not just in band members (we are pumped to have our new drummer, Ryan), but also in song. Katie has been busting out the electric geetar lately, Mike has been playing with some fancy new pedals, and Richard has been changing up instruments left and right.
We are in the early early beginning stages of starting on our next album, which if everything goes right will be a full length CD. What does “early early” mean, you ask? It means we have about ten songs that are just about ready to be set-in-stone, while Mike and Katie try to squeeze out a few more to round out the sound. We have started to do preliminary “at home” recordings to see what we are working with.
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