BETTYSOO at Cactus Cafe 6-13-09

This is the show we had been looking forward to for a very long time, it seems like. A cd release show as BettySoo has put out a new record called Heat Sin Water Skin. It came out this past Tuesday.
We have been hearing all of these new songs for the past year when we'd go see her. This is the first time I've ever had the chance to be really familiar with all of the music on an album before it came out. To finally hear it as a complete work, hold it in your hands, read the liner notes, all the fun stuff, well, that's the best.
So this cd release show was building up all week as something that was going to be different, special. And boy, was it ever!
If there is a better listening room in Austin than the Cactus, I sure hope someone lets me know about it. This concert was SRO and I mean wall to wall people! You could not move. They were turning people away. And everybody inside was listening. It is so much fun when you are in a room full of people like that, everyone completely into the music.
There were many neat things about this night. Some of it was the atmosphere inside the Cactus. We walked in and there is BettySoo, in the room already, chatting with people, having fun. How often do you see that? The artist pretty much greeting everybody. I thought that was pretty cool. They also had a food table set up and a special drink you could buy at the bar. It was a BettySoo cocktail called The Pretty Girl! The name is a takeoff on her song "Never The Pretty Girl." Tables were set up so those of us who got there early got to sit down, nice and cozy.
BettySoo was tweeting throughout the week about little, special things that were going to happen, like the cocktail, food and swag (since The Pretty Girl was made with Tito's Vodka we all got Tito's hats and t-shirts!).
Another tweet came saying this was going to be a free show! Can you imagine? She just wanted everybody to come, have a great time and celebrate the release of the new cd!
Then came a tweet about special guests going to appear! She had already announced on one of the radio interviews she did that week that Gurf Morlix was going to play in the band on this night. He produced the record, played guitar and various other instruments. To have him come and be her sideman on lead guitar had all of us very excited!
The day of the show she tweeted every now and then and told us the name of a special guest. There turned out to be 5 of them! It's great to live in Austin!
The Concert. It was so much fun, so good, a great, great live music night. The band was really driving her music. Her keyboard player, Todd Wilson, suits her. He really brings the soul and the funk to her songs. Gurf was off the charts. He plays with that gritty edge that is a sound all his own and it is perfect for this album. Raw and rooty. Rounding out the band is Dave Terry, her husband, on drums and on this night we had a fill in bass player (darn it, can't remember his name) because her regular was getting married. He did a great job and Dave is always steady as you go behind that drum kit.
We got to hear every song off the new album and several from her older material, too. All of the players were having fun and playing their rears off. When BettySoo starts singing, well, if you haven't heard her yet, you are missing the boat in a big way. That crystalline voice of hers in a room with great acoustics like the Cactus, it was like being in church. Gave you goose bumps.
She had the special guests come up one at a time throughout the evening. They played two of their own songs, with BettySoo sometimes harmonizing, playing along or just listening. It added such a nice touch to this show. The special guests were Graham Weber, Aimee Bobruk, Ben Mallott, Jess Klein and Jenny Reynolds. We all enjoyed listening to them and watching the fun they were having. Even when there were hiccups, they and the crowd went with it. It was live after all, not really rehearsed and it was all about being there with each other, I think, so mistakes didn't matter. So much talent on such a small stage.
The concert lasted 3 hours with one short break. The night seemed to fly by in a heartbeat.
Lastly, all I want to say is, go out and buy this cd! NOW. It is good from beginning to end - sweet, gritty, rockin', soulful, tender - it has it all. Probably should buy two copies and give one to your best friend.
You can buy Heat Sin Water Skin at Waterloo Records if you're in the Austin area.
Online at bettysoo.com or cdbaby.com