Bettye LaVette Recent News

R&B Legend Bettye LaVette Announces NYC Residency

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:04:00 -0700

“The High Priestess of R&B,” as Bettye LaVette has been dubbed by the Huffington Post, is bringing her soul-shattering show to The Carlyle Hotel for a residency from May 24 to June 3, with performances Tuesday through Saturday, the first week and Tuesday through Friday, the second.

Cited as “the last great vernacular black singer” by The New Yorker, Bettye has been honing her skills since her first single was released at the tender age of 16 in 1962. Yet it wasn’t until four decades later when she was signed to Anti- in 2004 that Bettye began to garner a wide audience. Before that, she seemed to be the best kept secret in the world of rhythm & blues. With the release of My Own Hell to Raise in 2005 and the follow up, Scene of the Crime out in 2007, public awareness of Bettye began to grow. As a result, she was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2008. Hers was such a riveting performance the producers of the show proceeded to ask Bettye to sing at Obama’s Inaugural Celebration in front of the world. Meanwhile since the release of last year’s Interpretations: the British Rock Songbook, Bettye “now rivals Aretha Franklin as her generation’s most vital soul singer,” according to the New York Times.

Now with two Grammy nominations under her belt and performances to sold out venues all over the globe, Bettye is an undisputed world class interpreter of any genre of song. Her upcoming shows at the Carlyle will be showcasing Bettye’s inimitable style, gut wrenching vocals and songs from throughout her five decade career. Now 65, Esquire has called Bettye “the sexiest female vocalist alive.”

Bettye LaVette at the Café Carlyle at the Carlyle Hotel:
May 24-May 28
Tuesday through Saturday at 8:45pm
May 31-June 3
Tuesday through Friday at 8:45pm

Bettye LaVette Live On BBC Scotland

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:01:00 -0800

The incomparable Bettye LaVette performs The Beatles Rubber Soul classic ”The Word” and her song ”Take Me Like I Am” at Celtic Connections at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow. The concert was filmed for BBC Two Scotland. You can watch more here.

Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook in stores now! Click here to get it on iTunes.

Bettye LaVette Set To Perform On Lopez Tonight December 21st

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:12:00 -0800

BETTYE LaVETTE is set to perform “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” – from her Grammy-nominated CD INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK (Anti-) – December 21 on Lopez Tonight on TBS. In BETTYE’s hands, the song, best known as a top 15 hit for The Animals in 1965, “[comes] across like one side of an argument,” according to Jon Bream of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Adds Jay Lustig of the Newark Star-Ledger (where “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” was Song of the Day earlier this year), “I've never heard an interpretation of it that brought the sense of desperation in the lyrics so far into the forefront.”

Meanwhile, BETTYE returns to Joe’s Pub in New York on January 8 for an intimate vocal performance accompanied only by her Music Director/pianist Alan Hill. BETTYE first sang without a band at Joe’s Pub to great acclaim in 2009 – “She sings, she smolders, she testifies,” wrote Dimitri Ehrlich in Uptown Social – as she revisited songs from her early years in Detroit nightclubs. This time around, BETTYE reprises her September performances at Largo in L.A., delving more extensively into her recent Anti- catalog – including some of the same British Invasion material that is the focus of her Grammy nominated CD.

Nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album, INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK is an impassioned dissertation on the much-documented influence that American blues and soul had on British rock n' roll – but more than that, it's an exploration of how those echoes from a foreign shore in turn influenced and reshaped American blues and soul. Praise for INTERPRETATIONS has run the gamut from critics to contemporaries – and the artists whose work BETTYE re-imagines in her own inimitable style.

Dubbed “the last great vernacular black singer” by The New Yorker, and “The High Priestess of R&B” by the Huffington Post, BETTYE “now rivals Aretha Franklin as her generation’s most vital soul singer” (New York Times). INTERPRETATIONS is “required listening for music lovers of all nationalities and sensibilities,” says USA Today. “Every one of these tracks is a well-known song, seemingly immutable in the original version,” adds All Music Guide, “but amazingly, LaVette steals each and every one of them…LaVette is singing better than ever, and if she isn’t a household name, she ought to be.”

ANTI 2010 Fall Sampler Now Available On iTunes

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:12:00 -0800

Above is a chance to preview the amazing new ANTI-Records 2010 Fall Sampler. It’s eleven absolutely essential artists at the peak of their creative powers, including a song from the amazing new album by DeVotchKa, a preview of the stunning Anti debut from talented singer-songwriter Sean Rowe, Grinderman, Yann Tiersen and much more fine music. Click here to get it on iTunes!

ANTI Fall Sampler Track Listing:

1. Mavis Staples “I Belong To The Band”
2. Devotchka “Contrabanda”
3. Bettye LaVette “Salt Of The Earth”
4. Dr. Dog “Mirror, Mirror”
5. Sean Rowe “The Walker”
6. Grinderman “Heathen Child”
7. Lost In The Trees “Walk Around The Lake”
8. Yann Tiersen “Ashes”
9. The Frames “Falling Slowly”
10. Sage Francis “The Best Of Times”
11. Mose Allison “Modest Proposal”

Anti Records Artists Nominated For Grammy Awards

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:12:00 -0800

Like a gleaming exclamation point at the end of an unquestionably fruitful year, the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards has singled out three legendary acts on the ANTI-Records roster for award nomination. All of us here at the Anti-/Epitaph would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to Mavis Staples, Bettye LaVette, Roky Erickson and Will Sheff for being so deservedly honored by their peers in the music industry.

Anti- Records 2010 Grammy Nominees:

Best Americana Album -Vocal or Instrumental: You Are Not Alone - Mavis Staples

Best Contemporary Blues Album -Vocal or Instrumental: Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook - Bettye LaVette

Best Album Notes: True Love Cast Out All Evil - Will Sheff, album notes writer Roky Erickson With Okkervil River

*The 53nd Annual Grammy Awards show will occur on February 31, 2011 at The Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Get The New ANTI Fall Sampler, Along With 9 Albums On Sale For Under $10

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:11:00 -0800

Beginning this week, Anti-Records is pleased to offer our complimentary Anti Fall Sampler with the purchase of any of our recent releases for a limited time holiday recession friendly sale price. So for under $10, you can receive a new album by one of our acclaimed artists and an additional album featuring a mix of songs by a storied roster that includes the legendary Mavis Staples, Nick Cave’s raucous outfit Grinderman, adventuresome French composure Yann Tiersen, iconic jazz artist Mose Allison and more. This offer will only be available at participating independent record stores while supplies last.

Anti Albums on Sale:

Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
Grinderman – Grinderman II
Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame
Sage Francis – Li(f)e
Lost in The Trees – All Alone In An Empty House
The frames – The Cost
Yann Tiersen – Dust Lane
Bettye LaVette – Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook
Mose Allison – The Way of The World

Fall Sampler Track Listing:

1. Mavis Staples “I Belong To The Band”
2. Devotchka “Contrabanda”
3. Bettye LaVette “Salt Of The Earth”
4. Dr. Dog “Mirror, Mirror”
5. Sean Rowe “The Walker”
6. Grinderman “Heathen Child”
7. Lost In The Trees “Walk Around The Lake”
8. Yann Tiersen “Ashes”
9. The Frames “Falling Slowly”
10. Sage Francis “The Best Of Times”
11. Mose Allison “Modest Proposal”

Watch Bettye's Performance From The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:11:00 -0800

Bettye's performance of "Isn't It A Pity" from Friday's Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is now online! Watch in the player below and head over to iTunes to download her latest album Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook!

Watch The Full Episode of Live From The Artists Den With Bettye LaVette & Booker T

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:08:00 -0700

Recently, Bettye LaVette appeared on Live From The Artists Den with Booker T. Jones and The Drive By Truckers. Now the episode is available to stream in its entirety over at Hulu! Click here to watch.

Bettye LaVette 'Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook' In Stores Today

Tue, 25 May 2010 00:05:00 -0700

Bettye's new album Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook is in stores everywhere today! Pick up your copy from iTunes or the ANTI Store today! You can also stream the entire record before you pick it up. Just click here to listen.

Bettye LaVette Performs "The Word" Tonight On The Tonight Show

Mon, 24 May 2010 00:05:00 -0700

BETTYE LaVETTE returns to the Tonight Show this evening with a performance of the Beatles’ classic “The Word,” from her new album titled Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook out tomorrow on Anti- Records.

Meanwhile, critics all over are raving about the new disc:

“Ms. LaVette, 64, now rivals Aretha Franklin as her generation’s most vital soul singer. She uses every scrape, shout and break in her raspy voice, with a predator’s sense of timing, to seize the drama of a song. On “Interpretations,” Ms. LaVette and her co-producers jettison the original arrangements. They rip away the old self-satisfaction and reach into the songs to find them grappling for love, for meaning, for consolation and for redemption.” New York Times Jon Pareles

"Sometimes torchy and always gut-wrenching, her knowing rasp pushes the album onto terra firma between the blues and power pop." Entertainment Weekly K. Leander Williams

“Staggeringly powerful.” Minneapolis Star Tribune Jon Bream

“That perhaps is LaVette’s ultimate accomplishment on Interpretations. In tackling such iconic material, she doesn’t just make them sound new and fresh. She makes them sound personal again, expressions of individual yearning rather than tokens of generational nostalgia.” Washington Post Stephen M. Deusner