Heavens to Betsy | |
---|---|
Origin | Olympia, Washington |
Genres | Riot grrrl, indie rock, punk rock |
Years active | 1991–1994 |
Labels | Kill Rock Stars K Records Chainsaw Records Yoyo |
Past members | Corin Tucker Tracy Sawyer |
Heavens to Betsy was an American punk band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1991 with vocalist and guitarist Corin Tucker and drummer Tracy Sawyer. [1] [2] The duo were part of the DIY riot grrrl, punk rock underground, and were Tucker's first band before she co-formed Sleater-Kinney. [3] [1]
Both The New York Times and Rolling Stone included Heavens to Betsy in essential riot grrrl lists. [4] [1] In 2018, a music writer noted, "This band's primal punk sound and powerful expressions of young female rage and desire retains the power to startle decades after their creation." [5]
Corin Tucker and Tracy Sawyer met in middle school in Eugene, Oregon and became friends. [5] Sawyer said, "We kind of goofed around. ...We were like, ‘Let’s start a band!’ But it was always kind of a joke." [5] Tucker came up with the band name Heavens to Betsy - originally an idiom - during the spring of 1990. [2] That summer, before Sawyer's senior year in high school and Tucker's freshman year at college, the friends went on a "music pilgrimage" to Athens, Georgia by train. [5] There, Sawyer bought a used drum kit for $100. [5] Tucker's father gave her a guitar he built and bought her an amplifier. [5] The two started learning to play their instruments, practicing at Tucker's parents' house. [5] [2]
In the fall of 1990, Tucker went to Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. [6] [5] She found an active music scene with bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile. [5] [6] Tucker says, “I was able to finally connect with a group of people that were all in bands and they were all playing house shows. It was all happening so I just said, ‘Well, I have a band, too!’” [5] In 1991, Tucker's band was invited to play at the International Pop Underground Convention by Michelle Noel of the college's KAOS radio station. [5] Tucker said, “She called my bluff. I said yes, even though I don’t think we’d even written a song. I think Tracy had just graduated high school, and I was like, ‘Great, we’re playing a show.’” [5]
Heavens to Betsy's first public appearance was a three-song set at the International Pop Underground Convention organized by independent record label K Records in August 1991. [6] [2] [3] The first night of the six-day festival had an all-female bill. [3] Dubbed "Love Rock Revolution Girl Style Now," the fifteen bands included Bratmobile, Suture, Heavens to Betsy, Jean Smith of Mecca Normal, and 7 Year Bitch. [3] [7] This show is considered pivotal in advancing the riot grrrl movement. [3] [7]
Heavens to Betsy was conceived as a two-person band—Tucker played guitar and sang vocals, and Sawyer was on drums and occasionally bass guitar. [1] [8] [5] Tucker says her wailing vocals were modeled on Kathleen Hanna and Sinead O'Connor. [7] Rolling Stone notes, "Tucker made no effort to prettify her massive wail…" [9]
The band's songs were female-centric and covered intersectional politics, with lyrics about body shaming, patriarchy, white privilege, periods, rape culture, racism, queerness, the plight of working people, avenging sexual abuse, and frenemies. [5] [1] [3] [10] [9] Tucker said, "I think as a 17- or 18-year-old girl, you really feel the kind of injustice that’s done to young women really personally, that kind of scrutiny of your own body that’s done to women and your sexual power." [5] Tucker wrote the lyrics on her own; she would compose the music either with or without Sawyer. [5]
Their first album was an eight-song cassette recorded by fellow Evergreen student Molly Neuman from Bratmobile. [5] Conceived as a demo, the cassette ended up being released and distributed by K Records. [5] It has not been reissued in other formats because the master is missing. [5] Next, they released "My Secret" on a split single with Bratmobile, also on K Records. [5] In addition to their self-titled demo, Heavens to Betsy recorded two seven-inch records with four-songs each, and one LP, Calculated. [8] [5] [10] Rolling Stone included Calculated in its "Riot Grrrl Album Guide" with a going deeper rating. [1] The band also contributed songs to many compilations. [11]
In 1992, Heavens To Betsy played a show in Bellingham, Washington and met Carrie Brownstein who attended Western Washington University there. [7] Heavens to Betsy went on a United States tour with Bratmobile. [5] Touring in the days before cell phones, Sawyer recalls, "We went with two cars and got walkie-talkies." [5] Next, they toured England. [5] Later, they went on another national tour with Brownstein's band, Excuse 17, before disbanding in the mid-1994. [5] [8] The bandmates say their relationship and personalities changed as the music got serious, and they lacked the maturity and communication skills for a business relationship. [5]
After Heavens to Betsy ended, Tucker and Brownstein created the band Sleater-Kinney. [4] [1] Tucker's other projects include Heartless Martin, Cadallaca, The Corin Tucker Band, and Filthy Friends. [11] [12] [13]
Sawyer would go on the play in numerous bands, including The Flying Tigers, KaraNEEDoke, The Lies, and Motel No-Tell. [11]
Heavens to Betsy's music was included in the 1993 film I Was A Teenage Serial Killer and the 2013 video game Gone Home. [14] [15] In October 2011, English artist Katie Hare created an art installation in London with videos, audio, and zines related to Heavens to Betsy album Calculated . [16] Hare chose Calculated “because, to me, it seems to really capture the moment an individual, in this case, a young woman’s, belief system is shaken and they begin to start questioning the world around them. ...Its directness is almost shocking. I remember being kind of uncomfortable by its honesty when I first listened to the record." [16]
In 2017, actresses Mackenzie Davis and Carrie Coon recorded an acoustic cover of the Heavens to Betsy track “Axemen" for their film Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town. [17] In 2021, the band Whisper Hiss covered the Heavens To Betsy song "Firefly" for Stars Rock Kill (Rock Stars), the 30th-anniversary celebration of the label Kill Rock Stars . [18]
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known for its commitment to underground punk rock bands and the Olympia area music scene.
Sleater-Kinney is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's lineup features Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein, following the departure of longtime member Janet Weiss in 2019. Sleater-Kinney originated as part of the riot grrrl movement and has become a key part of the American indie rock scene. The band is also known for its feminist and progressive politics.
Bratmobile is an American punk band from Olympia, Washington, formed in 1991. They are known for being one of the first-generation "riot grrrl" bands. The band was influenced by several eclectic musical styles, including elements of pop, surf, and garage rock.
The port city of Olympia, Washington, has been a center of post-hardcore, anti-folk, and other youth-oriented musical genres since the late 1970s. Before this period, Olympia's The Fleetwoods had several Billboard chart successes between 1959 and 1963. Olympia saw a rise in feminism in the music industry, where artists commonly addressed rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, racism, patriarchy, classism, anarchism, and female empowerment in their songs. It was a center for the riot grrrl movement of the early 1990s, which featured Bikini Kill and Bratmobile.
Corin Lisa Tucker is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously recorded with the punk band Heavens to Betsy as well as The Corin Tucker Band.
Excuse 17 was a punk rock band from Olympia, Washington, US, that performed and recorded from 1993 to 1995. The band consisted of Becca Albee, Carrie Brownstein, and Curtis James (drums). The band recorded two full-length albums and a single, and contributed to several compilation albums.
Allison Wolfe is a Los Angeles–based singer, songwriter, writer, and podcaster. As a founding member and lead singer of the punk rock band Bratmobile, she became one of the leading voices of the riot grrl movement.
Sleater-Kinney is the debut studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released in 1995 by Chainsaw Records. The album received favorable reviews from critics.
One Beat is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on August 20, 2002, by Kill Rock Stars. It was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded between March and April 2002 at Jackpot! Studio in Portland, Oregon. The album peaked at number 107 in the United States on the Billboard 200 and entered the Billboard Top Independent Albums at number five. One Beat was very well received by critics. Praise centered on its cathartic musical delivery and progressive politics.
All Hands on the Bad One is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on May 2, 2000, by Kill Rock Stars. The album was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded from December 1999 to January 2000 at Jackpot! Studio in Portland, Oregon and John & Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington. The music on the record ranges from softer melodies to fast punk rock guitar work, while the lyrics address issues such as women in rock, morality, eating disorders, feminism, music journalism, and media.
The Hot Rock is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on February 23, 1999, by Kill Rock Stars. It was produced by Roger Moutenot and recorded at the Avast! recording studio in Seattle, Washington in July 1998. The Hot Rock marks a considerable change in the band's sound, veering into a more relaxed and gloomy direction than the raucous punk rock style of its predecessors. The lyrical themes of the album explore issues of failed relationships and personal uncertainty.
Call the Doctor is the second studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney. It was released on March 25, 1996, by Chainsaw Records to critical acclaim.
Calculated is the only studio album by the American punk rock band Heavens to Betsy, released on March 21, 1994, by Kill Rock Stars. The album received positive reviews from critics.
Molly Neuman is an American drummer, writer and publisher, originally from the Washington, D.C. area who has performed in such influential bands as Bratmobile, the Frumpies, and the PeeChees. She was a pioneer of the early-to-mid '90s riot grrrl movement, penning the zine which coined the phrase in its title. She also co-wrote Girl Germs with Bratmobile singer Allison Wolfe while the two were students at the University of Oregon; that title later became the name of a Bratmobile song.
Jen Smith is an artist, musician, zine editor, and activist from the United States. Smith is credited with being the inspiration behind the term riot grrrl and being one of the architects of the movement.
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics, it is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express anger, rage, and frustration, emotions considered socially acceptable for male songwriters but less commonly for women.
The International Pop Underground Convention was a 1991 punk and alternative rock music festival in Olympia, Washington. The six-day convention centered on a series of performances at the Capitol Theater. Throughout August 20–25, 1991, an exceptionally large number of independent bands played, mingled and collaborated at the Capitol and other venues within the Olympia music scene. A compilation of live music from the event was released later by the local record label K Records.
Erin Smith in Washington, D.C., is best known for being the guitarist of riot grrrl band Bratmobile, a band with drummer Molly Neuman and vocalist Allison Wolfe.
Yoyo A Go Go, usually abbreviated to Yoyo and often typeset in various ways, was an independent music festival in Olympia, Washington, first held in 1994 and followed by successor festivals in 1997, 1999, and 2001. Five- and six-day concert marathons featured dozens of punk and indie rock acts stacked back to back, as well as a variety of associated entertainment and small-scale local retail. The concerts took place at the historic Capitol Theater and showcased performers from the local Olympia music scene, while also including national and international artists.
Filthy Friends is an alt-rock supergroup based in Portland, Oregon. The band is fronted by Corin Tucker and guitarist Peter Buck. The other members of the band include alumni from bands such as the Minus 5, King Crimson, The Baseball Project and Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3.