I hear a distant and far away Buddy Holly singing in my head, taking a bit of liberty with his own lyrics, as if the song was banging off the ionosphere from some distant place, "BettySoo, BettySoo, pretty, pretty pretty pretty BettySoo." We were happy to have had a return bout with BettySoo, as she came aboard the Music Fog bus last year during 2009's Americana Festival & Conference in Nashville. The performance we bring you today happened last month in Okemah, Oklahoma during WoodyFest. BettySoo's voice is entrancing, clear as Carillion Bells at Christmas, and just as mysterious.
Photo Credit: Todd V WolfsonI visited BettySoo's website, only to be regaled with an essay about pet peeves on her blog. She writes, "I’ve recognized I have more pet peeves than one person should ever possess." Read the rest here. She calls the blog "bettysoo's ramblings," and they are literate and relatable. The most recent one is titled "The Unbearable Weight Of Our Grievances." She ends this posting by referencing a friend who says, "Nothing ticks me off more than negativity." Ah, but it is a fact of life. I wonder if reality TV would so captivate the populace if it didn't make you feel better that your life isn't as messed up as what you are watching on TV. Jerry Springer syndrome.
So let us stop a while, count our blessings, feel the warmth of the sun, the warmth of our loves, our memories, our little victories. And though BettySoo has four albums for sale up on her website, let us listen to an as yet unreleased tune, "Things Are Going To Get Worse." Before they get better, that is. My son Trevor, ever the jaded, cynical twenty something, greets people with a handshake along with the answer to 'how ya doing' with "It could always be worse." Yes, that is the truth. Hope springs eternal.
- Jessie Scott
