Member Highlight - About the Betsy

There would be no Kindness and Lies without Betsy Adams. And with no Kindness and Lies, there would be no need for this particular blog. Luckily, there is a Betsy Adams, a Kindness and Lies, and thus, a blog for me to ramble upon. It's time to share a bit more about the elusive character known as, well...Betsy Adams:

I met Betsy (through my dear friend Tracy) in 2006. She heard my last band No More Stereo and liked it enough to express interest in playing guitar for the next chapter in musical adventures - the short-lived Djuna (2007). Three things I knew immediately about this girl: she knew her way around a guitar, she was business-minded and brilliant, and she was very much her own powerful entity. Three things I learned soon thereafter: she knew how to make my songs come to life, how to add substance to my flightiness, and that I had found someone who I was connected to very deeply - with and without words. (It was a no-brainer to seek her out as a partner in crime for this latest project).

It is not an exaggeration when I say that there would be no Kindness and Lies without her. Betsy steers the business of this band. She is organized, articulate and efficient. She is truly an artist of a musician as well - tasteful, broad, and with fantastic chops and melodic sensibilities; her guitar work allows for cohesion (no matter how random I get with my initial approach). She constantly is thinking and working to make this band better. She has been a genuine and generous facilitator for my growth and success as a musician and a person.
...And come on - charming, mysterious, hilarious, gorgeous, and capable of singing third harmony? How can any of us resist, really?! I love, respect, and appreciate her fiercely.

Full name: Elizabeth Carswell Adams (AKA Dr. Calvin Boss, and many variations thereof)

Astro sign: Scorpio

Past notable music projects: A couple of college rock bands, then a few singer-songwriters and other random projects. Djuna.

Hometown: She was born in Atlanta, went to high school in Berkeley, so she calls that her hometown.

How long she has been playing guitar: Since she was 14.

How she got into playing: Her dad came home from work one day with an electric guitar. It sat there for a while before she picked it up. She then spent a lot of her high school years locked up in her room trying to play that thing.

Major musical influences: Betsy chooses to keep most of her influences to herself... but Jennifer Turner is her all-time favorite lead guitarist - who just happens to be female as well. (Turner toured with Natalie Merchant for awhile and then sort of disappeared. Betsy recommends you listen to "Wonder" off of Natalie Merchant's first solo album... you'll hear what she's talking about. She could play that lead guitar part in her sleep).

What she is listening to lately: William Fitzsimmons, Lucinda Williams, Ingrid Michelson, mix cds from Ash Scheiding (heaven help her with that). John Mayer (yep.) Patty Griffin. But Betsy listens mostly to local bands...she is an avid supporter of local music.

What she wanted to be when she grew up: A button pusher that works in a button factory...or a veterinarian.

Hobbies: She likes it all. If there is liquor involved.

How Betsy would describe herself and her bandmates each in three words:

Brian: "Doesn't speak English"

Ash: "One and only"

Niki: "Get it girl"

Robert: "Eyelashes, dimples, amusing"

Betsy: "I don't know"

Goodriddler - "Tickling the Tail of the Tiger"

(photo by Philip Alexander)

I have this friend named Nick. This same friend also happens to be my coworker. He happens to be a fantastic musician, and writes and performs as the one-man-band Goodriddler. Nick - (programmer/drummer/pianist/vocalist) had been working on the release of a record. He needed to go on tour in celebration and support of his efforts. That meant he had to ask me - his supervisor - for a few weeks off. (I said yes. I'm not a mean boss.) When he came back from his adventures, he gave me the fruits of his labor: "Tickling the Tail of the Tiger". Listening to this gem of a record - and as a witness of his fulfilling live performances - I know he's going to need a lot more time off.

The sum of my initial experience of this record (journal excerpt):
Instantly I was sucked into an alternate world. As I began to grasp my surroundings - I realized I was precariously placed at the ledge of a building. In front of me - a thick and enticing fog - and I found myself leaping without thought to consequence. On my way down, I was punching through layers and layers of surface. It didn't hurt - but there was surprise at each burst - enough to knock the wind out of me. I could see my inner self - the thrill of my descent filing me with nervous laughter. With clenched face - I was refreshed. I surrendered to the sarcasm and wit of my sonic circumstance. It had me.

A collaboration of organic instruments, voice, and calculated and precise digital elements - this record is an exotic film. It embraces and speaks to various aspects of humanness - flesh and shadows. The mechanical, tantalizing innerworkings. Ticks as precisely as clocks - then changes its mind. It is a science film - organisms bumping into each other in apparent chaos - all along, aligning with a greater scheme.

I found myself intrigued. Afraid. Disturbed. In love. Mad props to the mad scientist - Goodriddler - for facilitating such romance. The record/theatrical event takes itself seriously enough that I invest in its characters. The songs are are a collective - and though strong on their own - together they are a process. A progression - the record moves on from itself, but never abandons its foundation of sure rhythm and reoccurring tonal and melodic themes.

"Tickling the Tail of the Tiger" puts sound to the wandering mind and heart.

Get ahold of this record. See this man live.