Nick Loss-Eaton Media January Spotify Playlist

BETTE SMITH SKYROCKETS TO #35 ON AMERICANA SINGLES CHART AND #35 ON AMERICANA ALBUM CHART, HITS TOP 5 ON ROOTS MUSIC REPORTS R&B AND SOUL CHARTS

BIG LEGAL MESS ROCK & ROLL/SOUL ARTIST SIGNS WITH NEIL O’BRIEN, SHARES NEW MUSIC VIDEO

 

Big Legal Mess (Fat Possum imprint) soul and rock & roll singer Bette Smith has skyrocketed to #35 on the Americana Album Chart and #35 on the Americana Singles Chart at radio. On The Roots Music Report, Smith’s album ‘Jetlagger’ hit the top 5 on both its Top 50 R&B Album Chart and Top 50 Soul Album Chart.

 

Click here for the Bette Smith mini-documentary.

 

She’s earned praise from NPR, Billboard, WNYC, Paste Magazine, MOJO, American Songwriter, and Bust Magazine. Here’s her brand new music video for “Durty Hustlin’” (OK to share).

 

Neil O’Brien Entertainment represents Smith international bookings.

Bette Smith EPK

Bette Smith "Shackles & Chains" official video

“NEXT BIG-VOICED SOUL SENSATION OUT OF BROOKLYN” (MOJO) BETTE SMITH TO TAPE NPR SESSION AS ACCLAIM COMES IN

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn soul singer and Big Legal Mess recording artist Bette Smith’s swaggering new album ‘Jetlagger’ is out as of last week and has earned her an upcoming NPR taping with World Café. Jimbo Mathus produced ‘Jetlagger.’ Smith plays Kung Fu Necktie (Upstairs) in Philadelphia on October 25.

 

Here’s what we’re reading:

 

"A rugged, chugging southern soul record... Like Betty Davis or Betty Wright before her, she's imbues tracks with shingly, sawtoothed texture, capable of breaking off a high note with a throaty cry or scraping so low and wide that she threatens to put her bass player out of work."

- Elias Leight, Billboard, July 26, 2017

 

“An incredible debut from the next big-voiced soul sensation out of Brooklyn.”

- Lois Wilson, MOJO Magazine, October, 2017

 

"a batch of tunes as powerful and taut as her wonderfully craggy voice... with a debut full-length as sturdy and uncompromising as Jetlagger, she’s the swaggering proof that there is nothing dated about soulful rock and roll sung with attitude, defiance, and a take-no-prisoners aesthetic."

- Hal Horowitz, American Songwriter, September 29, 2017

 

“A major new voice in soul music… Brooklyn’s Bette Smith possesses a one of a kind voice, deeply drenched in hot soul of the nearly incendiary Southern type. That voice could rock the biggest of stages and move mountains if it had to… Count me as a massive fan. Smith is the sort of artist that you’ll find yourself following her whole career.”

- Sarah Zupko, Pop Matters, September 19, 2017

 

“88 [out of 100]… At last, her vibrant recording debut is here to bring healing and happiness to fans of singers like Sharon Jones, Betty Wright and Naomi Shelton.”

- Annie Dinerman, Elmore Magazine, September 27, 2017

Bette Smith "Man Child" video

Director: Emory Parker

VOCAL POWERHOUSE BETTE SMITH TRACES BED-STUY ROOTS BACK TO DEEP SOUTH SOUL & GOSPEL HEADWATERS ON JIMBO MATHUS-PRODUCED DEBUT LP ‘JETLAGGER,’ OUT 9/29 VIA BIG LEGAL MESS

STREAM LEAD VIDEO "MAN CHILD" VIA BILLBOARD HERE: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7874090/bette-smith-jetlagger-debut-interview

Brooklyn soul dynamo Bette Smith will release her debut album, ‘Jetlagger,’ September 29 via Fat Possum subsidiary Big Legal Mess. Recorded in Mississippi with producer Jimbo Mathus—who’s played on records by everyone from Valerie June to Elvis Costello—the album finds Smith reconnecting with the Deep South roots of the gospel, soul, and blues music she grew up singing in New York’s rough and tumble Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. The record also fulfills a deathbed promise Smith made to her late brother, Junior, that she’d keep on singing no matter what.

“He told me, ‘I want you to sing; don’t give up,’” remembers Smith, who wears yellow onstage to honor his memory. “It’s all for Junior, now.”

In a premiere and feature, Billboard's Elias Leight writes, "A rugged, chugging southern soul record... Like Betty Davis or Betty Wright before her, she's imbues tracks with shingly, sawtoothed texture, capable of breaking off a high note with a throaty cry or scraping so low and wide that she threatens to put her bass player out of work."

‘Jetlagger’s ten tracks bring together obscure deep cuts, vintage classics, and originals written specifically for Smith, who counted late icon Ray Charles among the fans of her raspy and riveting voice. From a simmering take on Isaac Hayes’ “Do Your Thing” to a feverish rendition of the Staple Singers’ “City In The Sky,” the album showcases Smith’s fiery, mesmerizing delivery, rich with emotion and bruising in its honesty. Mathus dug deep into the Mississippi and Memphis soul bags for material, unearthing hidden gems like the moving “Flying Sweet Angel of Joy” by Famous L. Renfroe, while originals like the raucous soul-rocker “Man Child,” spare and funky “Shackles & Chains,” and Blaxsploitation soundtrack-esque “Durty Hustlin’” draw on Smith’s defiant and wild personality, as well as the hard-won perspective she gained growing up poor in Bed-Stuy. The deeply soulful title cut “I Will Feed You” and the rollicking title track were chosen from over a hundred songs that Smith wrote. First-call Memphis horn players Marc Franklin (Robert Cray, Lucero and Kirk Smothers (Don Bryant, Melissa Etheridge, Cyndi Lauper, Buddy Guy) were summoned to complete the album’s sound.

“Everything was recorded live,” recalls Smith, who cites her church choir director father and gospel-loving grandmother among her earliest influences. “I do well when I’m performing like that. There’s New York aggressiveness and passion. I get to a fever pitch. I’m gone. I’m not even there anymore. Something else takes over.”

‘Jetlagger’ follows Smith’s 2016 EP, which earned her international tour dates and rave reviews. Bitch Magazine compared her to Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, praising her “stunning voice,” while Soul Tracks hailed her music as “steaming,” and No Depression exalted her as “a woman with the blues power of both Big Mama Thornton and Bessie Smith, the smooth classiness of jazz/blues singer Joe Williams, the dynamics of Koko Taylor, and the energy of Janis Joplin all wrapped up tight in a relevant Billie Holiday look.”

Smith will perform in NYC’s Riverside Park on Sunday, Sept 10 as part of the West Side County Fair presented by the Parks Department’s Summer On The Hudson series. Stay tuned for additional tour dates and details to be announced.

Bette Smith photos

Credit for all: Shervin Lainez
Click for high res

Bette Smith bio

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Born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bette Smith reconnected with her musical roots in Memphis and Mississippi – and fulfilled a promise to her late brother in the process. Recording her debut full-length album in Mississippi brought her to the roots of the gospel she sang in the church and the soul music she heard on the block on hot summer nights music growing up on the corner of Nostrand and Fulton. The powerful ‘Jetlagger’ comes out September 29 on Big Legal Mess, a Fat Possum subsidiary. “The south came to me and grabbed me and pulled me down there. The southern migration came up and got me. My neighbors in Bed-Stuy influenced me,” she says.

She recalls that Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn was a very different place when she was growing up. “It was rough back then!,” she exclaims. “There was lots of gang activity. One gang came after my brother and my dad came out with a lead pipe to protect him. It was really hairy. My older brother Junior protected me from all of that. He would intimidate all of the other guys.”

She owes even more to Junior. Several years ago, on his deathbed suffering from kidney failure, he made her promise not to give up on a career as a singer. Those last days of his, she sang while he tapped his foot on the hospital bed at Kings County Hospital. “I didn’t know how else to comfort him,” she recalls. He told her, “I want you to sing; don’t give up” and she’s kept that promise, playing gigs from One Penn Plaza in New York to the Boogie Woogie Festival in Brussels, Belgium, always wearing yellow on stage to honor him. “It’s all for Junior now,” she affirms.

Jimbo Mathus produced the album at Water Valley’s Dial Back Sound and sent roughs to Bruce Watson, who swiftly signed Smith on for a full-length. He’s become a secret weapon for Fat Possum and Big Legal Mess Records; in addition to being a solo artist and a founding member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Mathus has also produced Shinyribs, Luther Dickinson, The Seratones, and played on records by Valerie June, Buddy Guy, and Elvis Costello. “You exceeded all expectations,” Mathus told her.

The trip was also Smith’s first to the deep south. She recalls, “It took me out of my comfort zone. I got lost in a swamp one time and kind of freaked out! I’m a quintessential city girl.”

Smith beams when talking about the sessions. “It was really wonderful. Everything was recorded live. I felt like I was Tina Turner and Etta James. I do well when I’m performing. It was a real performance that had never been captured before.” Anyone who’s ever seen her live knows how absorbed she gets on stage and these sessions put her in that same place. She continues, “There’s New York aggressiveness and passion. I get to a fever pitch. I’m gone. I’m not even there anymore. Something else takes over.”

Mathus dug deep into the Mississippi and Memphis soul bags, unearthing “Flying Sweet Angel of Joy” by Famous L. Renfroe, a song with which Smith particularly connected. “I believe in guardian angels. Jimbo picked up on that. I feel that I was giving voice for Famous. because he never really got a chance.” Mathus also picked Isaac Hayes’ “Do Your Thing,” which simmers with Memphis heat.

The raucous soul-rock of “Man Child,” the spare funk of “Shackles & Chains,” and Blaxsploitation soundtrack feel of “Durty Hustlin’” were all written or co-written by

Mathus specifically for Smith. She gets rough, wrestling the title track to the ground; the song captures the late nights and lack of sleep inherent in a musician’s life. First-call Memphis horn players Marc Franklin (Robert Cray, Lucero and Kirk Smothers (Don Bryant, Melissa Etheridge, Cyndi Lauper, Buddy Guy) were summoned to complete the album’s sound.

‘Jetlagger’s’ closer, the Staple Singers’ “City In the Sky,” connected her back to Bed-Stuy. She remembers, “My father was a church choir director. I was singing since I was five years old. I take it to church. I just break out, start speaking in tongues.” She also heard gospel around the house every weekend. “My grandmother listened to nothing but gospel,” she recalls, citing Mahalia Jackson and Reverend James Cleveland. “Every Sunday morning, she would get up and put on these records while dressing and praising the Lord. The furniture was plastic-covered. After lunch, it was more gospel music,” she says. Bed-Stuy block parties would also have revivalist-style gospel acts. “I’m steeped in it!,” she adds. Though a Seventh Day Adventist as a child, Smith is now a member of the Church of God in Christ.

Several years ago while singing in Los Angeles, Bette’s voice drew the attention of another artist who came up in the church – Ray Charles, who invited her to collaborate with him shortly before his passing. “It was the first inkling that I had greatness in me,” she says.

Reviewers have noticed, too. On the strength of a 2016 EP, Bitch Magazine compared her to Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, praising her “stunning voice [and] powerful but pliable tone” saying that her songs “cut deep” and calling her music “remarkable.” Bitch continues, “[Smith’s] individuality keeps her story in her own hands and gives her firm ground from which to leap into her career. And with that voice, she can aim high.”

Soul Tracks said simply, “Steaming… That voice though!”

No Depression said, “Show stopper… Finally, a woman with the blues power of both Big Mama Thornton and Bessie Smith, the smooth, classiness of jazz/blues singer Joe Williams, the dynamics of Koko Taylor and the energy of Janis Joplin all wrapped up tight in a relevant Billie Holiday look… No lame, whiney female vocals here. It’s all confidence and power. The sexy slur and slide of Bette’s voice, her roll of syllables, the phrasing and intonation all on target, all polished with gratifying verve. But the true sting is in Bette’s ability to know exactly how to interpret a song -- her songs, or anyone else’s.”

She already can’t wait for her next trip down south, when she’s going to meet soul legends Al Green and Don Bryant. She says, “It feels like the circle is coming around. The gospel roots remain the same. This is timeless music – soul, rhythm and blues – Mississippi is the birthplace. When you’re down there, you feel something.”