We had a fantastic tour in June and July in Germany and France. Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows! We love the big towns and the small towns, the festival stages and the intimate venues. And had a blast playing shows with my good friend and awesome artist, Elizabeth Lee. It was great to work on songs that will be on the new album. Bet Williams Band will be back SUMMER 2025!! Oh yeah!
KICKSTARTER THANKS! Thanks for everyone who helped make the Kickstarter for my new album, Magic Beauty Pain, a success! Big thanks to Kevin and Jenny for helping with the video, Abi for footage and feedback and Jonathan, Achim at 7V for songs from the studio. And Laurelyn Dossett at the end stretch doing Livestreams with me from Ramble on Big Creek in N.C.! We did it. The album is currently being recorded and will come out hopefully in winter. There are still many new songs that are making their way onto the project. It’s exciting.
The LOVESTREAM REVOLUTION!
The “Lovestream Revolution” sessions were broadcast from my studio fireplace in an old stone farmhouse in Pennsylvania from January to April 2024. It was a Sunday 2pm east coast (U.S.) happening thing. People from all over joined the stream for an easy hour. This weekly livestream was a space where I could try out brand new songs, play old favorites, explore odd cover songs, and converse with visitors in the chat as well as a few invited live audiences. We sometimes had surprise guest artists. It was a casual thing and was very fun and satisfying. I hope to resume a version of this in Fall.
Meanwhile, you can check out the sessions on my YouTube channel under Live Videos. So stay tuned by getting on the mailing list. Keep Bringing love!
About Bet Williams
“A new-folk, blues-roots tone poet with a highly charismatic stage presence and an astonishing four-octave range voice.” - National Public Radio
THE OFFICIAL STORY:
Bet Williams is a fearless vocalist and dynamic performer whose four-octave-range voice has mesmerized audiences across America and Europe. Williams' music blends folk, rock and roots rhythms with intelligent lyrics and infectious hooks. With a gift for storytelling and spontaneous humor, her stage performances go from profound and poetic to wild and spontaneous, at times bordering on performance art.
“Her lyrics are at once thought-provoking and humorous, poetic and passionate. The emphasis is on rootsy, blues-influenced music that showcases her four-octave powerhouse voice.”
—Philadelphia Inquirer
BET WILLIAMS BAND
Bet Williams with Marc Gransten from Sweden - the grooviest bassist in Europe, and “Defunkt” drummer legend, Kenny Martin.
With an astounding 4-octave-range voice, intelligent lyrics and a highly charismatic stage presence, Bet Williams infatuates audiences with “super human reserves of energy” (New York Daily News). Full of raw emotion and a startling honesty, she ventures places most performers hesitate to go. When the Bet Williams Band takes the stage; folk, rock and blues merge with stirring melodies and infectious grooves.
Audiences around the world have been mesmerized by what SING OUT! Magazine calls “the sheer beauty of her instrument and the passion with which she sings.” On festival stages with the powerful energy of the band, or in small theaters with a single acoustic guitar, Bet creates huge soundscapes with her voice that reach beyond the boundaries of folk, blues, world music or rock. “Bet Williams is a performer who is seething with life,” according to NPR. No wonder she has appeared on stages with artists such as Taj Mahal, Joan Osborne, Herbie Hancock, Arlo Guthrie and Lucinda Williams.
BET'S VERSION:
When I was thirteen, living in Virginia, I got my first guitar. With the two chords I had just learned, I pressed my fingers into a sad love song (after all I was thirteen). Many chords and some decades later I am still writing songs. Some sad, some funny, some poignant, confessional or wild. But over the years I found that what I really like to do is play live.
I spent my college years playing with groups like Bookends and Ticapoo Brain. I made my first CDs in Nashville with producer Brad Jones (Jill Sobule, Marshall Crenshaw) and Jim Rooney (John Prine, Nanci Griffith). I was too quirky for Nashville so I headed up the coast to play in Philadelphia and New York where I found some lifelong friends and a great music scene. I’ve shared the stage with some incredible musicians including Lucinda Williams, Bobbie McFerrin, Arlo Guthrie, Taj Mahal, Joan Osborne, John Gorka, Annie Haslam, The Corrs, Herbie Hancock and a bunch of other wonderful people.
I’ve had my California years with record deals, big time actors and big promises. I’ve worked on organic farms, danced at Rainbow Festivals, and marched against wars. I’ve had my New York City and Woodstock Chapters. Then there were the years in Berlin when we toured continually around Europe. Not to mention the Armenian years, playing music with my family band (John Hodian and our awesome then 12-year-old son on drums) and writing songs under the spell of the beautiful and mysterious, Mount Ararat.
Now I survive (spiritually and financially) by touring the world as a solo artist and with my band, the Bet Williams Band. From New York to California, Berlin to Paris, Copenhagen to Armenia. I sing songs for a living. It's an interesting life. A strange, interesting and magical life. Even in these crazy times. Music goes on. I believe to gather is perhaps more important now than ever before. To share thoughts, ideas, music, art, different points of view. To listen to each other. To share the joy of being alive together, with all life, on this planet.
BET WILLIAMS ON TOUR
ALL UPCOMING CONCERTS ARE POSTPONED UNTIL SUMMER 2025
HOST A HOUSE CONCERT!
If you think you might want to host a Bet Williams house concert, we can explain how easy and fun it is to bring music into your home and share it with your friends. Yes, anywhere in the world. Or if you know of a cool venue near you that would be interested, let us know by emailing me info@betwilliams.com
RECENT PAST SHOWS:
BET WILLIAMS BAND TOUR with ELIZABETH LEE!! June/July 2024
June 22 • Kaiserslautern - Peace Camp (BWB)
June 23 • Heidelberg - Lampenhain Goes Acoustic (BWB)
BWB Shows with ELIZABETH LEE in FRANCE!
June 27 • Jeudi 27 Juin - MACON FR Le D31 Restaurant Rte du Port d’Arciat, 71680 Crêches-sur-Saône
June 28 • Vendredi 28 Juin - PERONNAS FR 9pm 150 IMP CLAUDE BERTHOLLET 09160 - Infos et Resa 06 63 65 82 57
June 29 • Samedi 29 Juin - CHEVIGNAT FR 8:00 p.m. outdoors AU PLAN D’EAU DE CHEVIGNAT 01370
June 30 • Dimanche 30 Juin - Open House Party Bourg-en-Bresse Une concert Privé 258 Route de la Ville Sous Charmoux 01270 Coligny - Clen 0611 72 4774 for more info
July 2-5 • Video Shoot
Germany
BET WILLIAMS BAND with ELIZABETH LEE
July 6 • Wredenhagen, Cafe Sheune DE
July 7 • Celle, Open Air - Kaffee Garten Sulze DE
BET WILLIAMS and ELIZABETH LEE DUO SHOWS
July 11 • Hamburg-Bergedorf Soundyard at the Windmill
July 12 • Braunschweig - Barnabys
July 13 • Bet Solo - Alheim/Oberellenbach
July 14 • Bet Solo - Burgkundstadt
July 18 - Parchim - River Concerts - Elizabeth Lee and Bet Williams Join the awesome Joseph Parsons! This will be fun!
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26
GETTYSBURG, PA
LIVE MUSIC FROM A GETTYSBURG CHRISTMAS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30
GARWOOD, NJ
CROSSROADS
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2
PHILADELPHIA (Ardmore, PA)
THE LIVING ROOM
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3
NEW YORK, NY
UNION SQUARE
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9
PRINCETON, NJ
SALON 33
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10
WOODSTOCK, NY
COLONY